Poison Ivy
by EchoCIDE
Summary: ::Ganked from my old profile and magically brought back to life:: The love for her village knew no bounds, her loyalty was endless, but when it comes down to 'do or die' she'll make her way down the path least followed, to save her own life. ZetsuxSakura
1. The Great Escape

**Chapter One: **The Great Escape

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"Shit, shit, shit!"

The raspy string of curses could be heard throughout the thickets of the forest, followed quickly behind it were the heavy, anxious footfalls of a female, pink-haired shinobi. She raced on through the trees, never ceasing, never stopping, never slowing down, much to the protests of her burning legs and lungs. Her brain and her heart were pounding with a ferocious 'thump, thump, thump', and she knew she was being much too loud at that moment, but she had to get away.

They would catch her if she didn't.

Haruno Sakura, age 23, Elite Jounin and former apprentice to the Godaime Hokage herself, was running through one of the Fire Country forests in the middle of the night, an ANBU squad close on her heels.

Looking back at this moment, she couldn't exactly remember what she had done to get to this point, but if she had to guess she figured that someone had most likely set her up. She knew what the supposed charge was and who had supposedly rat her out, the only problem was this: she didn't do a damn thing!

Her mind repeated over and over again to her that it was Sasuke, it had to be. He had to have been the one to have had set this whole ordeal up. It had all started exactly two years ago when he had returned to Konoha, after succeeding in his hunt to find and kill his brother, Itachi and murdering Orochimaru two years before. This left the Uchiha with nothing to do but return to Konoha and begin the restoration of his clan like he had planned in the very beginning. He returned and received an amazingly light sentence from Tsunade-three months in prison and six months of community services-and after serving it he took the jounin exams-passing them with flying colours of course-and then entering in ANBU. After awhile he began the search for a woman to help him rebuild his clan, with the help of Naruto of course-who at this point was so happy to have his best friend back that he would have done anything to help him.

After a few weeks of dating random civilian women, the ever prestigious Uchiha heir decided that a simple civilian woman would most certainly not do in the order of rebuilding the once great Uchiha clan. He needed a kunoichi and not just any kunoichi would do. He needed an incredibly strong kunoichi with superior chakra control.

He decided that Sakura was perfect for this task.

Unfortunately for that self-righteous jerk, Sakura had long since rid herself of that ridiculous crush of her school-girl years, and had moved on to a fantastic life of a successful medic-nin and esteemed bachlorette-which by the way, she quite enjoyed thank you very much, Mr.I'm-too-good-for-you-because-I-am-an-angsty-turd-with-a-hair-complex, and in the most showy way she could think of, turned him down.

Sasuke was not one for rejection, especially in the middle of a busy road with many people walking and going about their day. Nope, he hadn't liked that much at all.

Needless to say, he was pissed but somehow Sakura didn't believe that pissed was the word for it, maybe furious suited him better, she didn't know. But she did know that everytime he asked, and everytime she denied him, he made her life even more of a living hell.

He started out small, doing trivial things like breaking into her apartment and hiding her medical texts and the like, but as the year progressed onwards and the more she denied his advances more frequently, the more serious the 'punishment' became. Once, right before a major surgery, he had slipped a drug into her coffee that when ingested caused the user to lose complete control of their chakra and make it nearly impossible to use correctly. She wound up pushing in so much chakra into her patients heart during an open heart surgery and caused the organ to literally explode.

She wouldn't come out of her apartment for nearly three days, finally only giving in when Tsunade herself came to her apartment to soothe the worried kunoichi in person, which never happened. Ever.

The next serious occurance was when she and Sasuke were on a mission and he shoved her over the side of a mountain, nearly killing her in the process. He swore up and down that it was an accident, all the while sporting that disturbingly silky smile, when he explained the situation to Tsunade.

He was to revive one of the greatest clans of Konoha, so how could she not believe him?

A whole string of serious incidents followed in the spans of a week after one another, and then one night, exactly three days ago Sasuke followed Sakura home from the hospital and tried to force himself on her in her own home. She fractured his jaw, four ribs, and left quite a many bruises and cuts on him until he got so angry that he left, one last warning in his wake, "Sakura, either you accept the offer to be my wife or I will make sure that you will never touch another man again." To which she promptly landed a swift punch in his face, knocking him off her balcony and out of her life she had hoped.

Yes he was angry, and yes his pride was wounded, but Sakura never would have expected what was coming the two evenings after that.

After a long night at the hospital, Sakura retired to her apartment for a much needed night of rest. She walked into her home and - after deciding that she was going to skip her customary nightly shower - climbed into her bed and fell asleep.

She was having a lovely dream about going to a bed and breakfast with a hunky, dark haired man, when she heard the obnoxious and rather loud banging on her front door. Sakura unhappily untangled herself from the sweet, warm confines of her favorite crimson quilt and as she was pulling on her pants and shirt, yelled incredibly agitatedly that she would be down in a second. After she hastily pulled on her clothes she slid out of her bedroom and began to head down the front staircase to the the living room. That was when the phone rang. Sakura stood there blinking at it for a moment before finally picking up the receiver.

"Hello?" She said, quite uncertainly because honestly the whole door-knocking and phone-ringing bit was very strange at this hour.

"Sakura! Listen to me!" An urgent voice sounded from the other end. It sounded alot like..

"Naruto? Why are you calling me at..three o clock in the morning? This had better not be another one of your 'ramen emergencies' because if it is I-" Sakura began quickly and loudly, but was soon cut off by a nervous Naruto.

" Shh! Look you have to get out of there okay?" Sakura found herself confused. Get out of here..but why?

What the hell was Naruto on about? Slowly she started, "What are you talking about Naruto? Explain."

"The people banging on your door right now, are a trio of ANBU and they are there to arrest you Sakura! You have to get out!" Naruto screeched, quietly into the receiver. Sakura's stomach churned. ANBU was here to arrest her? That didn't make any sense at all.

"Arrest me? Why?" She nearly yelled but turned it down a notch at the last minute, she couldn't draw anymore attention to herself that she already had, especially if what the outraged blonde on the other side of the phone was sayingwas true. This was too serious to be joking about and even if he was a fan of practical jokes, Naruto wouldn't take it quite this far. This would have been the most impractical of practical jokes to date.

"An hour ago there was an incident on the main street, over fifteen civilians were taken out and your things were left all in the area, they said that there was alot of evidence linking you to the crime. I don't believe you did it...did you, Sakura? You didn't kill all those people right?"

Naruto's voice was pleading, as if he was praying, hoping that she would say no.

Sakura felt her dinner from this evening churn up and begin to make it's way back up her throat, "N-no...Naruto, I didn't."

"That's all I needed to hear, Sakura. Now, you have to get out of Konoha because if they catch you they're gonna kill you. Pack up your supplies and head out your bedroom window, I'll help you get past the guards. Hurry Sakura."

A click and the sound of a dead line was heard. Sakura dropped the phone and bolted to grab her bag and hastily fumbled supplies into it. What did this mean? What was going to happen to her now? She didn't kill those civilians! She would never do that! Never! So what made Tsunade-shishou believe that she would.

_Evidence, Sakura. They have evidence and here you are, running._

'Well, what other option do I have? They won't listen to me even if I tried!'

_Isn't that better than being prosecuted for a crime you didn't commit and then tried and hung? I think so. At least then you can fight your way out of this._

A loud crash was heard as someone kicked the door in. Wow they certainly were angry. But by the time they got up the stairs Sakura was long gone, and past the gates, Naruto on her heels.

After a few moments of running, they stopped and Sakura turned to her blonde counterpart, a sad smile on her pretty features.

"Naruto, you have to go back."

Naruto sighed sadly and propped his hand on his head, "I know...but I needed to make sure you would be okay."

Sakura nodded and took his hand, "I'm okay now, Naruto. Thank you so much, for helping me. You know you're my best friend right?" To this a teary eyed Naruto, grabbed her and clung to her tightly, whispering in her ear.

"I'll find the person that set you up, Sakura-chan. I promise, I'll clear your name and then one day you can come back home. I promise, Sakura. I promise." Sakura felt his tears on her neck, and had to fight the urge to cry herself. Crying would bring nothing good out of this though. Sakura knew it was Sasuke, it had to be, but if she told that to Naruto, well she was sure that he wouldn't believe her. So she kept quiet and after snagging what would possibly be the last hug from him she would receive, she bid a silent goodbye to her best friend and slipped through the forest.

That was last night, and she had managed to escape the ANBU attention for at least one evening, but tonight they had caught up to her and Sakura found herself bolting out of the forest at high speeds, searching desperately for the next large town where she could hopefully blend into the crowd.

The sooner she got out of Fire Country the better, but she knew she was at least three more days from the border and she was incredibly tired. She didn't want to have to fight the ANBU, not because she was sure she would lose, but because if Naruto did in fact clear her name, the knowledge that she took down ANBU operatives wouldn't help her case in the least bit.

Sakura felt her pace slow down and she began to panic a little, she was tired and her chakra was low. She needed somewhere to hide. Now.

Just when she thought her calves were going to explode, she noted a small cave opening behind a large rushing waterfall. That was perfect! Sakura quietly masked her chakra and slipped inside, trying to be as silent as her heavy breathing would allow.

Her breath hitched in her throat as she heard a male voice speaking very closely near the cave, but she couldn't make out who it was or even what they were saying. Sakura thanked the heavens above that they hadn't brought any ninken dogs with them, because if they had, well she would be in big trouble.

A few heart stopping moments passed and she felt the chakra signatures pass by and eventually disappear altogether.

She couldn't believe her luck, and that was almost too easy, but she didn't overanalyze it because as she saw it, she needed all the luck she could get.

She waited a few more minutes before gathering her pack up and slipping from the cave as silently as when she entered. Sakura pulled a map from her pack and searched it over to see where she was exactly, and with a silent thanks to the heavens found she was only two miles from the nearest town. With the rest of her chakra supply she could make that in under two hours, then she could stay at an inn and make some plans for what she was going to do next. And hopefully take a nice, hot shower, or maybe a bath if the inn had one. Maybe she could make it through okay after all.

For now anyway.

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**A/N: **Alright to those of you familiar with this story, you might have noticed a few things have changed. For those of you who are not the story about it is simple: I wrote it quite a bit back and had pretty much forgotten about it and my other profile. I know, bad, bad, Echo but whatcha gonna do? I am currently in the process of moving it to this profile. I kept the chapters that I had written already pretty much the same, a few minor tweaks here and there and I know they aren't very long - and I did break them up a bit making them even shorter, le sigh - but I'll be writing the newer chapters with the intent of making them longer. Just a little clarification to anyone who might be confused. Reviews please? You knows I love em.


	2. Blending In

**Chapter Two: **Blending In

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Sakura eyed the trees suspiciously; someone was following her. She just knew it somehow. Who was following her? She had no idea, but she knew it wasn't a bounty hunter or a Konoha shinobi, because if it was, well they would have had ample opportunity to attack at this point, considering they were pretty close to her. For the first half an hour of walking, Sakura contemplated making the first attack but the decided against it, because once again, she was pretty sure they weren't going to attack anyway. Well whoever it was, they were absolutely no good at hiding their chakra, either that or they were a genin. That was also unlikely, because the chakra signature was pretty damn big, and no genin had a chakra quite like that. Not to mention, why the hell would a genin be following her? So Sakura deducted that it was a shinobi, chuunin rank or higher, with an incredibly high, hard to mask chakra. Unless of course, they wanted her to know that they were there, which didn't seem likely either but..well anything could happen. Sakura just sighed and decided to ignore it for now, because the spy didn't seem to be harmful and in fact it was almost as if they were a curious and silent observer. So she just kept trudging on and eventually the chakra signature disappeared completely alerting her of the intruder's disappearance.

Finally, she made it to a semi-large town on the edge of the Fire Country's border, a perfect enviroment for one who wished not to be seen. She pulled on a drab, dark brown cloak over her head and made her way to a food vendor sitting rather conveniently near a slightly run-down inn. She placed her order for some takoyaki and some o-dango sticks, and sat down at the counter to wait. That's when she heard it, a voice that she had never wanted to hear again though frankly it's pretty hard to forget it when it was laced with such a stand-offish impediment.

"Oooooh! Sempai, you said we could get some dango sticks when we got here! Can we? Can weeeee? Ooooooh Sempai please?"

Sakura peered out the corner of her hood and noticed a tall man, dressed in black with a strange orange-swirled mask, practically bouncing all over his comrade, who was cloaked in an upsettingly familiar black cloak, covered in red clouds, a kasa adorning his head.

"God, Tobi, shut up, un! How the hell are we going to keep a low profile, if you never shut the hell up, yeah?" He hissed to his childish partner, who just whined a little and plopped down on the seat next to Sakura.

Sakura felt her blood become cold, and it was all she could do to repress the shiver that ran up her spine. It seemed as she feared, that was Deidara, the explosives expert and former partner of Akasuna No Sasori, both of the world famous, criminal organization, Akatsuki. The same Akasuna No Sasori who died by her hand nearly seven years ago. No doubt he had a new partner but Sakura knew for a fact that he was quite fond of his old one, and with her being the one who killed said former partner, she was pretty sure that if he knew that she was sitting just a few feet away, he would probably try something.

So suffice to say that as soon as her order was ready, she grabbed her food and bolted out of there, heading for the inn just up the road. Sakura let a little sigh of relief escape her as soon as she was far away from the two Akatsuki as per her comfort level. It appeared that she had gotten away unnoticed.

She should have never underestimated the power of an Akatsuki member.

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Deidara smirked under his hat, his ice blue eyes glinting from the hints of moonlight peeking through his cloak. That was definitely the girl, afterall he would never forget the one person able to take down Sasori-danna. He peered around that idiot Tobi, and spotted her walking briskly up the road, a pink strand escaping from the hood of her own cloak. Yup, definitely her. Because really, who had pink hair anyway? She was the only person he had ever seen with that atrocious shade of bubble-gum pink on her head. In all honesty, he felt a little sorry for her because not only was her hair pink, but her parents were as uncreative enough to name her something that would draw even more attention to her pink locks. Sakura. He tasted her name on his tongue, and found that he liked the way it sounded, but other than the hair, it didn't seem to suit her at all.

He had seen this girl in action and she certainly was nothing like her namesake. She wasn't particularly delicate even if she looked that way. Once, while watching her and that infuriatingly annoying kyuubi kid, he saw her land her fist straight through a giant rock wall, and crush it. She crushed it with her bare hands! Deidara found this to be quite amazing, it was the perfect form of art. She had to power to destroy but also had the power to heal. He had heard of her esteemed medic-nin training, and he supposed that was why he and Tobi were sent after her. Afterall, the organization was made up of walking disaster areas, and in his line of work you couldn't afford to walk around without some sort of insurance policy. He nudged his partner in the ribs.

"Tobi, un, we need to hurry and finish this up. We have work to do, did you forget that, yeah?"

All he got in response was the slurping of noodles and the muffled sounds of munching coming from under the orange mask. Deidara rolled his eyes, why of all partners to have, did he have to get partnered up with Tobi? He never asked Leader though, mostly because he didn't feel like being mindfucked with Leader's crazy eye skills.

Nonetheless though, he wished that Tobi would hurry up. He wanted to get this spying bit over with, Leader said he wanted the information on the girl as soon as possible, which in Leader terms meant, tonight. Plus the sooner he got this done, he could return to the base and get in some sleep. He hadn't slept well in weeks due to the mass amount of missions that he and Tobi had been overloaded with due to Itachi's recent fall at the hands of his brother. Good riddance to him, Deidara thought, he had always disliked that irritatingly pompous Uchiha, with his whacko eyes and his I'm-too-good-for-you attitude. He remembered something that Kisame told him once, about the Mangekyou Sharingan and his Tsukyomi. He still shivered from the gruesome details that Kisame dished out, and remembered the night that Kisame gotten caught in Itachi's Tsukyomi.

He was in the medical ward of the base for nearly two months, no scratch or even a bruise left on his body. All of the damage seemed to be upstairs and that was more disturbing to him than if the shark shinobi had gotten a limb chopped off.

Deidara scoffed; if there was one thing he hated more than anything, it was genjutsu-or mindfuckery, as he called it. Genjutsu was a crappy skill, used by people who mostly had no talent in real ninjutsu and taijutsu. Still, after what he seen of Kisame and from the tale he told, he couldn't say that getting caught up in something like that was something he looked forward to. It was said that Leader had something akin to the sharingan, he wasn't sure what it was though, but it was also said that it was monumentally worse than what the sharingan could ever do. Deidara shuddered, and pushed his bowl of ramen away, suddenly he wasn't feeling very well. He looked over at an apparently antsy Tobi, and saw that Tobi had finished his food. They both stood up and slipped off, two black figures fading into the darkness.

They didn't even pay their bill.

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Two yellow eyes beamed out of a tall oak tree, watching as the pink haired medic slipped into the doors of the inn, chancing a glance behind her as if to make sure that no one was watching her. He couldn't suppress the tiny smirk that traced his mouth. The girl had to be more careful for sure, if she thought someone would be following her in such a showy way. It was hard to believe that this was the woman he had been sent out to proposition, and many times he had to check and make sure the information on her matched.

It did but then again, when was Leader ever wrong?

He huffed a bit as he felt his stomach rumble, it had been too long since he had eaten and if he had it his way he would be dining on the delicious flesh of a dead shinobi. Unfortunately, Leader had demanded that he keep as low a profile as possible, which meant no human tonight. He swore at himself and peered on watching as a light clicked on in the upper level of the inn. He smiled as he watched a silhouette walk in front of the window. Definitely the girl. He slipped out of the tree, the odd carapace covering his torso and head slipping into his body with a few softly muttered words, he pulled the hood over his head, to cover his odd appearance. He hated doing this, but he had to get a closer look, he had to make sure that she was going to do what Leader said she was.

Apparently, as per the story Pein told him, she had murdered over a dozen civilians in her village, managing her escape before the ANBU caught her. What really confused him though was this; why would such an upstanding citizen, who had absolutely no wrong doing ways in her before, just suddenly turn like that? He'd read her brief file - high ranking jounin, trained under the famous Copy Nin Hatake Kakashi and later the Hokage herself - so why? There was no reason, which was leading him to believe that maybe this whole thing was some sort of setup. But those people had actually been killed, he knew this because he saw the aftermath in her village, so if it was a setup Konoha had covered all of their bases. That was another thing though, the upstanding village of Konohagakure would never stoop to that point of killing innocent civilians. They were much too good for that.

Suddenly, he felt a tugging on his cloak and turned around. A pair of glassy muddy brown eyes peered at him from under a tangled mop of blonde hair, the woman smelled of smoke and sake and some other kind of western alcohol, her makeup was too heavy and her hair was mussed, this lead him to believe she was a whore. Not a good whore either.

"Hey..-hic- baby! You..lookin' fer a good time tonigh'?" Her teeth were slightly yellow and the wrinkles in her mouth were probably caused by the amount of drugs she had used over a long period of time. Her words were slurred and just looking at her made him slightly sick. He hated prostitutes, he never required their services and they hardly ever tasted good, due to the amount of crap they put into their bodies. Plus even if he really had a sex drive, the risk of catching some kind of STD was too great to his liking. Kisame and the others sometimes bought whores, but never him.

Afterall...plants don't have sex. He chuckled slightly, he was mostly plant, even if his body was human. He shrugged the whore aside and slid up the back of the alley behind the inn. That silly woman would have been fun to kill, even if he didn't eat her, but he did have more important things to take care of before returning home tonight.

After all there was a little flower that required his attention this evening.

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	3. Severed Ties

**Chapter Three: **Severed Ties

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Sakura sighed as she glanced around the shitty little motel room. It wasn't the Taj Majal, but it would definitely do. She placed her bag on the floor and sat down on the little twin bed, pulling off her boots and stretching her legs in the process. She laid back for a minute, reveling in the slight relaxation she received from stretching her tired limbs and just laying down in general. She stood back up and stretched before walking to the little door that held what she prayed was a bathroom. She opened the door and couldn't repress the excited squeal that escaped her mouth. It was indeed a bathroom, and not only did it have a shower but it also had a bathtub. And the best part was, it was clean! Sakura hummed a little tune while she went to turn on the tap for the water. The water was clear and smelled clean much to her satisfaction. As the tub filled she walked back into the bedroom and began to undress, slipping her hitai-ate off first.

Sakura paused for a moment, running her fingers over the smooth metal of her forehead protector. She felt sadness grip her insides and try to plunge her under as tears threatened to spill over onto her cheeks. She wondered what everyone was doing at that moment. She wondered if Kakashi had finally gotten used to switching his sharingan on and off like she had taught him to do in their many training sessions. She wondered if Ino had finally caught the attentions of a certain husky shinobi yet. She wondered if Tsunade was sitting in her office, peering through her many stacks of paperwork, finally shoving them aside for a much needed glass of sake. She wondered if Sasuke had any luck falling asleep in a bathtub with a toaster. She wondered if Tenten and Neji were doing okay on their honeymoon, and if they were having fun in Wave Country. She wondered if Shikamaru and Temari were having more arguements and fretting over their newborn son too much. She wondered if Hinata had finally taken her advice and asked Naruto to go to dinner with her.

She prayed that Naruto had made it back into the village safely that night. It had only been about three or four days but to her it seemed like a lifetime, and as she realized that she may never be able to see her friends again, the tears threatened to come again. She looked back down at the Leaf engraved on her hitai-ate and with a sinking heart, withdrew a kunai from her pouch. There was really no going back now, at least not anytime soon. She had to do this, she had to make it known that she was no longer affiliated with The Village Hidden In The Leaves. Her home for her entire twenty-three years of living.

With a strong grip on her kunai, she slashed through the metal plate, a nice even cut through the engraving.

Her hands began to shake as she put the hitai-ate down on the small night stand and continued to get undressed, her head held high. There was no use in being depressed right now, bad feelings like that could get a shinobi killed, especially when they had no village behind them. She wondered if that was what all nukenin felt like when they left their villages, hopeless and distraught.

No she hadn't done the deed, but she had ran away, which made her just as bad as any other traitor. She remembered a time when she was younger and she had told Naruto that she would rather commit sepukku than abandon her village.

How ironic because here she was running now.

She unzipped her vest and slipped it off, unaware that a pair of amber eyes had been watching her the whole time.

.

His eyes widened slightly as he watched the girl slip her red shirt off of her shoulders, leaving her in her bindings, skirt and undershorts. He saw what he needed to see, he watched her cut through her forehead protector with his own eyes, and he really needed to get back to the base but...

For some unknown reason he couldn't help but look. He watched as her hands traveled down the sides of her flat stomach and fall on the hem of her skirt, with a little tug it fell to the ground. She followed that up by sliding her black skintight shorts down her legs until they lay in a heap on her floor, atop her skirt. He felt a bit awkward, watching a half naked woman get even more naked and he was at a complete loss as to why he was in the first place, but he just couldn't look away. This wasn't like him at all. Both sides of him were silent, a phenomenon that rarely ever happened. Never once that he could remember had he shown any interest in seeing any kind of female body parts, unless he was eating them of course. He felt a strange current travel in the pit of his stomach, pushing it aside as an urge to eat this girl. He groaned a little as she went to cut her bindings, and just before she laid the kunai on the white fabric, he heard a loud squeal.

"Zetsu-san! Hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii, Zetsu-san! What are you doing down there? Are you- Omph!" Tobi and Deidara were perched above him on one of Deidara's clay birds, and Tobi nearly falling off when a fist connected with the back of his head.

"Tobi! Shut UP, un! Can't you see Zetsu is spying? God...stupid idiot, yeah."

Deidara folded his arms in front of him, and looked away from Tobi disgustedly. Zetsu grunted and quietly leapt from the edge of the window, landing gracefully on the ground below. He made a signal for Deidara and Tobi to follow him into the woods, and slipped underground.

Once they had landed and Zetsu had come back up, Deidara asked the question on both he and Tobi's mind.

"So...Zetsu..Why are you here, un? And keeping tabs on our mission, hmm? What's up with that? Does Leader not trust us or something?"

He flipped his blonde hair out of the one eye that was supposed to be uncovered, and leaned against a tree. Waiting for the plant man to respond, and he noted, that his large fly-trap thing was missing. He was actually concealing it, something Zetsu hardly ever did.

"It's not that..exactly. It's just that you two are not exactly the most silent of spies, and Leader-sama needed someone perfected in the art of espionage to keep another eye out."

His white, more logical and polite side quietly before his black side chided in rudely, "**Plus you guys are pretty stupid**."

Deidara scoffed and rolled his visible eye, while Tobi leapt over to Zetsu nearly knocking him over.

"I'm not stupid, am I, Zetsu-san! Am I?" He was practically bouncing about. Making both the explosives artist and the plant man sigh.

"Of course not, Tobi. **Stupid would be an understatement**. We didn't mean that.** You mean, you didn't mean that. I certainly did**."

Tobi looked sad for a moment before regaining his annoyingly chipper disposition, and bounced off to chase a bunny or something ridiculously Tobi-esque like that.

Deidara folded his arms in front of him, and gave the plant man a smirk.

"So what, un. I suppose that's your reason for peeping in a girl's window while she's half naked, hmm? Espionage tactics?"

If Zetsu could blush he would have, but he was much too hardened for that. Instead he simply said, uninterestedly, "I assure you not, I just needed to see if she would truly turn her back on her village. **She's pretty tasty looking though**. We must not eat her though, Leader's orders. **Unfortunate isn't it, blondie?**"

"You know, Zetsu-san, if I had my way, I would kick your ass because of your black side." Deidara grumbled, unamusedly to which Zetsu sighed.

"It's understandable. I feel the same sometimes.** Traitor**. Oh do silence yourself. Deidara-san, Leader told me to tell you and Tobi that your mission is over and that I will take over your duties for the time being. You are to return to the base as soon as possible with an update."

But Deidara was long gone as soon as the words 'return to the base' slipped from his lips. Zetsu looked around the area and begrudgingly slipped into the trees to watch the girl from afar. A few more days of watching her and he would either return to the base or proposition her to join the organization as per Leader's command.

All that seemed to float through his mind - on both sides - was the way her flat stomach rippled as she slipped her clothes off. He shook the thoughts violently from his head. Thoughts like that would do him absolutely no good. Afterall, no woman had caught his attention before, why would one silly pink haired medic do that?

Life was awfully confusing.

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Sakura couldn't help the soft sigh of contentment that escaped her lips as she stepped into the bathtub, the deliciously hot water warming her body as she sunk into it slowly.

"Oh... That's good," She whispered to the tiled walls, as if they could talk back to her. She lounged back in the tub, letting the almost too hot water melt away her stresses and undo the many muscle cramps and aches in her body. The liquid heaven embraced her and for a little while she was able to forget all of the problems and issues she was going through. She loved baths and showers because once she was clean and refreshed she felt as if she could get over any obstacle, and get through any tribulation life threw at her. She supposed it was a girl thing but when you were clean and renewed on the outside you felt more renewed on the inside as well. She smiled and seeped further into the water, her long pink locks swimming under the water's surface, causing an ethereal glow in the slightly murky water.

Once during the summer, her mother took Ino and her to the public pool and the two girls stayed in the water the whole day. She remembered fondly coming back to her house and having her mother nurse her and Ino's sunburns before they went to bed, stretching a sheet over the air-conditioning vent and both crawling under it, to soothe away the burn. There hadn't been much time for playing after that, when they had both been assigned to seperate teams and had began the ridiculous rivalry that had started all because of Sasuke. A pang of regret threatened her mood suddenly and she had wished that she knew then what she had known now. Ino had been her first friend and though they had long since smoothed things over it was still troublesome to think of all the years they wasted over a pointless crush. But that just came with being a girl right? It didn't matter now, she thought forlornly, seeing as she wasn't sure she'd see Ino again anyway, or anyone else for that matter.

What if she was doomed to be alone forever? What if she could never go back? What would she do then?

Sakura sniffled and wiped at her eyes. She really missed Ino and hoped that she was doing okay and that Naruto explained the whole situation to her, so that she understood. Desperately trying to regain her bearings once more she grabbed at the sweet pea scented shampoo she brought with her, pouring a generous amount in her hands and lathering up her mid-back length hair. She had decided, after becoming Tsunade's apprentice, to regrow it back out; she always thought it was prettier long though she usually wore it in a high ponytail when on missions or in surgery. Only difference between this look and her former twelve year old look, was that she had let her bangs grow out to a length even with that of her chin. They were still shorter than the back of her hair, but not short enough to be considered forehead fringe. That and the fact that it was subsequently more damaged at the ends, something she tried to continuously rectify but it was hard to worry too much about one's hair when more important things kept popping up.

Such as, oh say, running from hunter-nin and trying to not die.

After lathering up she dunked herself under to rinse out her locks and then came back up, grabbing a bar of soap off of the ledge and a natural sea sponge - both things she always kept in her bag along with her shampoo and conditioner - she sudded up the sponge and after playing around with the soap bubbles, she began to wash up. After rinsing off, she ran her hand down her legs, tsking at the fact that they could use a little hair removal. She sighed distraughtly when she realized that she had nothing even resembling a razor, save for her kunai and she absolutely hated doing that because: A) It rusted the blade up something awful B) it caused the blade to become irritatingly dull and C) She would wind up cutting herself more times than she could count. She sat in the bathwater for a moment, wondering what she could do about her hairy legs and armpits. Then it hit her like an oncoming train and she had to prevent herself from slapping her forehead in a moment of sheer dunce-ness.

Once, during a moment of complete lack of anything to do, Tsunade-shishou had shown her a little trick for quick hair removal using chakra. Tsunade used to show her tons of beauty tricks in their spare time when they weren't swamped in paperwork or training. Sakura gathered some chakra in her fingertips and slowly ran her hand over her legs, pleased when the little hairs singed off. She did this on both legs, her arms, and her underarms and then exhausted from the trip and lack of food and using the chakra from the hair removal, decided to eat something and plan out her next tracks for the oncoming adventure before curling up and going to bed.

She pulled the plug from the drain and stepped out of the tub, wrapping herself in the big, black, fluffy towel she brought along. She stepped out of the small steam filled room, enjoying the way the cool air from the slightly cracked window felt on her damp skin.

...

Cracked...window? She had never opened this window. She walked over to it after pulling on her night clothes - tight black shorts and a tanktop - and peered out of the window. Nothing but a woman stumbling on the streets, and a few men talking to her - a prostitute and some johns, Sakura supposed - was out there.

'It was probably cracked open like that the whole time, I just never noticed before.' She reasoned with herself to make herself feel better, or that was until she noticed the small envelope sitting on the dresser.

Sakura walked slowly to it, eyeing it cautiously, her inner self screaming at her not to pick it up because it was probably a very well disguised paper bomb or laced with poison or something. Sakura sent out some chakra first to inspect the envelope, and when finding nothing harmful about it, picked it up and slit it open the flimsy seal with a kunai. Inside of it was a carefully folded letter, on very expensive looking parchment paper. Sakura slid the paper out and opened it.

_S.H._

_Kurowaki Spring, 2:00 AM, Come alone. No weapons._

"Pssh. Some letter." Who the hell would know her in this town? And why would anyone want to meet her somewhere? A small shiver made it's way down her back. What if...

_Well whoever it is, they are stupid enough to actually believe that you wouldn't arm yourself. You think it's an ambush?_

'Could be...I don't think I should go...I have a bad feeling about this.'

_Well...you could not go, but aren't you the least bit curious?_

'Curiosity killed the cat,'

_Oh, I am sure we have a few lives left...don't you?_

Damn her inner self, always up to something. Okay yes, she was the first to admit that she might be just a teensy bit curious, but...could she really afford to go out into the open to meet someone when she had no idea who it was? This could be anything; ambush, trick, honest meeting, anything. And what kind of self-respecting nukenin would she be if she fell for such an obvious ruse?

'A dead one, obviously.'

Well, so sorry for her mysterious courier but being dead just counteracted with her plans. Plans of actually not dying.

Still, if she didn't go, she knew that the person who sent it would probably come looking for her. They obviously knew where she was if they just gung-ho'd it and came into her room intent on leaving her letters.

_Didn't you notice anything out of ordinary? No chakra flares or just some sort of general difference in the air that comes with intruders. For all you know that guy could have pilfered your underwear. Perverts. _

She sighed loudly. No, she hadn't noticed anything and she decided that if she was going to live to see next year then she should probably be a bit more diligent. It had just been a while since she had a bath and-

No. It was no excuse, she _had_ to be more actively aware. This wasn't some team mission where she would have her teammates to watch her back and she should be acting like the elite shinobi she was.

And the first step in that was to go to that meeting place and find out what all of this was about. She could deal with the consequences later, after all she knew a buttload of ways to kill a guy using only her chakra. She'd be fine in a place she didn't know with a potential enemy and absolutely no guage on their skill level. Just fine.

_Sure..._

Sakura flopped onto the bed and sighed contently glancing at the clock on the wall, 11:00 exactly.

She reached over and pulled a tiny alarm clock out of her bag, placing it on the nightstand and curled up in the covers. She reached over set the clock to go off at one AM. At least this way she could get a few hours of much needed rest before going to see what all this was about.

She snuggled into the blanket and upon closing her green eyes, Sakura fell into a surprisingly restful and dreamless sleep.

.

He watched as she slipped in through the trees, her graceful steps and masked chakra making her nearly invisible.

Nearly invisible to anyone but him of course.

So it seemed she had decided to come afterall, Leader-sama would certainly be pleased. Not to mention, his own mission would be over soon and he could return with the girl - hopefully - in tow. Hopefully she would accept the offer he was sent to give her.

He would hate to have to eat such a pretty face.

.


	4. Traveling On Foot Is Overrated Anyway

**Chapter Four: **Traveling On Foot Is Overrated Anyway

.

He watched from his hiding spot in the trees as she entered the dark clearing near the warm spring, his chakra completely masked. He tried to guage her reaction to the situation but she was expectedly very calm. It would have spoken volumes about her calibur had she been obviously freaked out or nervous.

He slid out from his spot and stood next to a tree, still completely blended in with the area.

"Good evening."

The girl's reaction was instantaneous, she swung around to where he was and flung a kunai right in his direction-which he dodged but still, that was awfully rude.

"Who are you? Show yourself!" She uttered in a harsh whisper, and Zetsu stepped out of the shadows. Sakura felt her eyes become slightly wide but it had nothing to do with his appearance. Alright maybe it had a little to do with that, it's not everyday you see a walking plant. It was what he was wearing that really shocked her.

The Akatsuki cloak.

"I thought we agreed no weapons, Haruno-san.** Put it away, wench. Now**."

Sakura tilted her head slightly, this was by far the strangest shinobi she had ever seen. She had heard that Akatsuki liked them odd, but she never realized giant venus-fly trap men, were on top of the list. Also, did he just speak in two different voices? Sakura lowered her kunai and walked slowly up to this man. She found herself closely studying him, perplexed and intrigued by his odd appearance. Her medic mode was kicking in as she wanted nothing more than to study this creature. An entire lifetime in the shinobi field had prepared her for oddities in other people so it wasn't that she was freaked out. Just intrigued. She wasn't even really scared, it was as if...she were entranced. What a perplexing physique.

He was tall, very much so, even without the carapace adorning his torso - at least seven feet with it, about six and a half without it - and he was two toned. One side of his body was white, while the other was black, and he had odd yellow, pupil-less eyes. She noted that when he had spoke earlier, that two voices came out, not just one, so Sakura deducted that each color represented a different side, or possibly a personality.

"Where...are you from?" She asked, curiously, knowing full well that it really was none of her business, and hey shouldn't she be fighting off Akatsuki members, not getting to know them? Probably, but she really wanted to know why he had called her here, plus she had never seen anything quite like him.

"Grass Village. **And I don't think that's any of your business! **I am sorry about our gruffness. But we should really get on to the matter as to why you were called here.** Hurry it up, we have more important business to attend to, other than weak little kunoichi**."

Sakura cocked her head and gave his black side a threatening glare, but then let it go. "What do you want from me? Really, leaving notes in people's hotel rooms is not the best way to contact a person, I thought someone was watching..." A strange look of realization took her previously perplexed features and her eyes widened. He had never seen eyes that green before. They almost glowed in the darkness.

Zetsu's insides gave a little twist, why did he feel so odd being around this girl?

"You... You were the one who's been following me, aren't you? What exactly have you been watching me for?" She placed her hand near her kunai pouch just in case, this really was some kind of trap. Zetsu made a 'tsk' noise and then spoke.

"I am sure that you are familiar with The Akatsuki, seeing as you were the one who killed Sasori, so I don't have to go into that.** How a little girl like you could kill Sasori, I am not aware of**. Nonetheless, our Leader has been monitoring you since...your incident in Konoha and he has requested a meeting with you. For what reason we don't know. I would suggest coming with me to meet him as soon as possible. **Unless you want us to eat you**." Zetsu adjusted his cloak and allowed Sakura a moment to mull over what he just told her.

After a few moments of silence and not fully grasping that last part, Sakura quietly asked, "And if I refuse?"

"Then we will have no choice but to dispose of your body. **Might I add you certainly do look tasty**. Oh, do you never stop? **It was a compliment**."

Sakura stood for a moment, her hands on her hips, before - to both sides of Zetsu's surprise -bursting out into a fit of laughter. She laughed so hard that her sides were beginning to ache, and she couldn't breathe. It was just so funny! The consequence of her life was so damn funny! Here she was, standing in the middle of a strange town, kicked out of her own village, unable to return home, talking to a giant plant man, who was telling her to come with him to meet the Leader of the one organization after her best friend or else he was going to eat her. It was too much, just too much for her. Not to mention said plant man was arguing to himself!

"Eat me...Eat me? What are you, a cannibal or something? HAHA!"

"**Yes**. We thought that was obvious."

The giggles ceased and she looked up at him with a grim look on her face. "Wh-what?"

"I said, Yes I am. And I am incredibly hungry. So.. If we could hurry this up and be on our way, I would greatly appreciate it."

Zetsu watched as her soft features scrunched up in slight confusion, he couldn't help but note that it was cute when she did that thing with her nose.

When did I ever start noticing when things were cute?

'I don't fucking know, but we need to get this show on the road. I'm hungry, and the longer we stand here the more appealing this girl is becoming...to the palate I mean..'

Mmhmm.

"Well, Haruno-san? Are you going to come along or must we fight?"

"..."

Well it seemed as if she really had no choice, did it? She could either go with this guy, to meet the Akatsuki leader or she could fight, most likely lose - he was an S-classed criminal afterall - and become a midnight snack for some crazy multicolored, schizo, photosynthesizer. She narrowed her eyes.

"What's your name?"

He sighed in obvious irritation. They didn't have the time for formalities but what harm would it do telling her his name when she would find out anyway? Couldn't hurt to be congenial just this once, right?

"Zetsu."

"And uhh...does that include uh...both of you?" Almost immediately she wanted to slap herself. Why the hell would she ask him that? What if he wasn't even aware that he appeared to be two different people fused together? What if he was really sensitive or something and what if he decided to eat her for being rude? Hesitantly she looked up at him, his face contorted in confusion.

"Ahh- Nevermind. Let me get my things, and then we can go."

After taking Sakura back to the inn to retrieve her things, and dodging her questions about how he could disappear into trees, Zetsu began the short travel back to the base. They walked for nearly two hours before he stopped and turned to her.

"Haruno-san, I usually don't travel this way. Do you mind if we travel..my way?"

Sakura stopped for a moment, and before she could give it a thought, a simple, "Okay" slipped from her mouth and before she knew it, The strange carapace on his torso opened and she was pulled into his chest, the plant closing in around them.

Her cheeks were alight in a furious blush from the close contact. She looked up at him and he merely shifted his eyes until the two connected. They slipped down, and Sakura asked in an uncharacteristically shaky voice. What the hell was wrong with her? Shouldn't be plummeting this jerk into dust for just grabbing her like that? Inner Sakura seemed to disagree and appeared to be having quite the heyday, jumping about and squealing about how muscled his chest was. Desperate for something to say she squeaked out - though she had really tried not to squeak - , "Are we going underground?"

Zetsu merely nodded, "Yes, but there are all sorts of poisonous animals and rocks and it can be quite dangerous without the protection." Sakura gave a demure nod, not wanting to move too much. For protection of course, not at all for the fact that she was all but smushed against a hard and warm body. Not at all. She hadn't even noticed really...

After a few moments, she felt his warm breath on her ear, his voice husky and low, "I am sorry if I surprised you."

The back of her neck tingled and her blush grew down her chest. What the hell was going on? Her body was betraying her! Damn useless body.

"It's okay...Just wasn't expecting it I suppose. No worries." She felt him shift as he nodded in return. He was awfully warm, alot warmer than most humans, but she had to remember that most of him wasn't human. Or was it? Oh how she wished she could do a little poking and prodding for science. Still, plants weren't warm. Maybe she could find out one day.

Wait, what was she talking about, one day? He was supposed to be the enemy right? All Akatsuki were..right?

_Well...no. Not really. If anything you are closer to them then anyone you knew in Konoha right now, because your situation dictates it as such. If anything maybe they can offer some kind of protection to you, it's a lot easier being a missing-nin in a group than as a single._

'Are you suggesting that you think I should possibly join the Akatsuki so I can be around other criminals? For safety purposes?'

_Yes, that's exactly what I am saying_._ What do you think?_

'I think I should really be committed.'

_It's not that bad of an idea! What if the Leader wants you to join them? Wouldn't that be kind of...neat? Being part of a criminal organization? Hmm?_

'...'

_Or you know...not._

'Being with anyone from Akatsuki is way more dangerous than going back to Konoha or staying on my own.'

_If that's so, why are we currently wrapped in a cocoon pressed against a dangerous S-Class criminal, heading there now?_

'I didn't want to get eaten. And we are not pressed against eachother! We're just slightly closer than normal.'

Inner Sakura rolled her eyes, which in turn caused Outer Sakura to roll her eyes back, which in turn made Zetsu roll his eyes, thus leading to the beginning of a chain reaction eye rolling...thing.

All of a sudden the movement stopped and the fly-trap opened, Sakura gingerly took a slow step away from Zetsu and began to survey her surroundings, all the while fighting dizziness. They were currently in an incredibly large, industrial city, covered in large buildings and lights shining through the heavy mist. Dark grey - nearly black - clouds loomed overhead, looking about ready to burst open and throw forth a heavy rainfall on the large city. Sakura felt a tug on her arm, and she turned to face Zetsu, but was stopped in her tracks by an enormous black granite tower. It was so beautiful, the whole thing covered in dark shiny stone and peppered liberally with reinforced black glass. There was a huge stairway, made entirely out of dark rain stained concrete. The two statues standing outside of the opening appeared as if they were guarding the place. The one on the right side was male, dressed in a long cloak and had strange bumps on the facial features. His eyes, Sakura noticed, had odd hypnotic rings inside the irises. The statue on the other side was female and had the same odd bump on her underside of her bottom lip, her hair was chin length and spiked in the back, a granite flower adorning her tresses. She was holding what seemed to be an origami swan in one hand. The dark clouds loomed heavy over this building, heavier than the rest, as if a warning was prevelent telling any intruder not to go into that building without permission first or else one would face serious consequences.

Sakura turned to Zetsu and he motioned for her to follow him up the stairs.

"Welcome Sakura Haruno, to The Akatsuki Headquarters."

The walk up the seemingly endless stairway wasn't nearly as tiring as she thought it would be, granted it took forever, but she wasn't out of breath or anything when she and Zetsu finally reached the top. Together they stood before the huge double doors - they had no doorknobs or handles or anything making Sakura wonder how they were supposed to enter -and Zetsu put his hand on her shoulder and turned her around until she was facing away from the doors, "A precaution, in case things go badly. **In case you fuck something up, and Leader has to give you the boot**. Just keep your eyes averted from me until I have the doors successfully opened." Sakura gave a small nod and before she knew it, she heard the distinct sound of very large doors opening, and Zetsu grabbing her hand in a very weak grasp and leading her in. Once safely - haha, safely - inside, a very loud slam alerted Sakura of both doors closing behind them and she couldn't help but flinch a little.

She might have thrown up she was so nervous. Luckily for her - and her 'companion' who was in direct puking distance - what was inside was enough of a distraction to quell the vomiting for now.

Her eyes widened at the inside of the foyer. It was huge, with black laquered walls and black marble floors, there was a giant elaborate chandelier encrusted with onyx stones and uncut garnet.

Black and red seems to be the theme here, who would have guessed? Sakura thought dryly. She looked to her left were there was a large black, stone door and on the right was the exact same door. Sakura turned to Zetsu, who was staring straight ahead, where a seemingly lightless hallway led to another set of smaller double doors.

"This way." He turned towards the hallway. Sakura followed intently, and watched with amazement as the hallway lit up as they walked along the cold marble, the 'clack, clack, clack' of her boots seeming to calm her a bit. When they reached the double doors Zetsu took a deep breath and turned to Sakura.

"Listen to me and listen closely because this is the most important thing to know if you wish to stay alive. Beyond those doors is the office of our Leader and his partner Konan. Only speak when you are spoken to and try not to get too lost. This information is vital. You will address him as Leader-sama and Leader-sama only. You will address Konan as Konan-san. Am I clear?" He looked into her eyes, his odd golden eyes burning straight into hers, his gentle voice nearly hypnotic. Half gentleman and half madman, Sakura almost sighed at that. She nodded and he gave a small nod in return before opening the door and ushering her in.

The first thing she noticed was that the room was completely dark, making her unsure of how big it was, the only light was the faint moonlight glaring from a very large window in the very back of the room. She could faintly see two figures sitting at a large desk.

"Is this her, Zetsu-san?" Came a female voice, soft and endearing, and Sakura found her body instantly relaxing, something that made her tense more inwardly. Her demeanor was calm as was her chakra, not friendly exactly, but not threatening. She seemed like the type of woman who never became angry. That kind of worried her.

"Indeed it is, Konan-san. Haruno Sakura." He gave her a slight push, and she stepped forward slightly just as the woman who spoke before seeming to glide into Sakura's view. She recognized this woman from outside, as she was the one who the statue was of. She had very soft white skin and striking blue hair, a delicate white paper flower set on top of her head. She had a stud decorating the bottom of her lip and was dressed in a black, skin tight, long sleeved hooded shirt, and a pair of tight leather pants, complete with a pair of eye-catching maroon knee high boots.

She held out her hand and with a soft smile said, "Hello Sakura-san, my name is Konan. Welcome to The Akatsuki Organization. I assure you, we have not brought you here to bring you harm."

Despite all the reservations fighting for control, Sakura gave a soft smile in return and took Konan's hand, "Haruno Sakura. A pleasure to meet you ...if I may ask one question?"

Konan nodded and noted that Zetsu seemed a little tense, she wondered why this was. Again she turned to Sakura.

"Why exactly did you call me here?"

Before Konan could open her mouth to reply a shadow appeared out of the darkness, a deep silken voice echoed from it's surroundings.

"I think that question would be better suited for me, Sakura-san,"

Before she could blink a man with orange spiked hair and a dozen peircings in his face stood before her. The man from the statue. He had the strange ringed eyes and a frighteningly strong chakra, quite the opposite of Konan, the only thing the two really shared was that the volume of their voices was the same. Both soft, only Konan's was a sweet, soothing kind of soft but this man, well this man's degree of volume was deadly and toxic to the ears. Frightening. Sakura repressed a shiver that ran down her spine and straightened to face him. It would do no good to show fear in this place. It was like being thrown into a pack of wolves or shark, if you showed them you were afraid they would jump at the first opportunity to attack.

"I am the leader of this Organization. I have been...observing your skills for quite some time, Sakura-san and I have to say, I am very impressed. You are one of the best medics in the world, if not the best, possibly even surpassing that of your mentor, hmm? Graduated from genin at 13, trained under Hatake Kakashi, the infamous Copy-nin, took apprenticeship under the Godaime Hokage, Princess Tsunade at 14, became a jounin at 17, and then stopped the active shinobi lifestyle to become a full time medical shinobi." Pein's words flowed seamlessly, as if he had been watching her for years. Another shiver ran down her spine and she wished that she were somewhere else.

"Might I ask how you know all of this, Leader-sama?" She said, her words barely above a whisper. She tried for the words to not sound, disrespectful but honestly she was quite afraid. She hadn't been this scared since the Forest of Death Exam, even when she had fought Sasori she wasn't this afraid.

"You could say I have done my homework," A soft, menacing chuckle flowed from him and he continued, "But...something confuses me, Sakura-san. You quit being an active shinobi to become a full time medic-nin, why is that?" He walked around her, just like a shark would circle it's prey. Sakura looked over to see Konan and Zetsu standing side by side, both appearing a little apprehensive.

Sakura took in a deep breath, "I saw so many terrible injuries on a day to day basis that I didn't want to be the one causing them." It probably wasn't the answer that Leader wanted, but it was the truth. The truth was all she had anymore and it seemed as if it wouldn't be good enough for too much longer. Pein made a soft 'hn' sound, and then replied.

"So you have a problem with killing?"

"No. I don't have a problem with killing when the need arises. I don't like to kill for no reason."

"Oh. What about the current crime you are being convicted of? Are you saying that you didn't kill all of those civilians?"

Sakura felt her temper begin to flare, this man was incredibly infuriating. Then the thought arose, why shouldn't she play pretend in front of these people? She could easily just say that, yes she did in fact kill those people. She could do that, so why didn't she?

Because she wasn't like these people, she couldn't kill in cold blood, and she couldn't lie like that either.

"No, Leader-sama, I didn't. I was set up, by who I am not sure, but I have a hunch it was Uchiha Sasuke."

Apparently she said something funny, because Pein let out a ground shaking laugh, cold and bone chilling. She wanted to go home. "Ahhh, yes. The youngest living Uchiha boy, I had heard he had recently reentered Konoha. You say he set you up?"

"I don't know that for sure, but yes, I am almost positive it was him."

"He killed his brother you know. My subordinate. Troublesome, you know, trying to find replacements at such short notice. Doesn't it make you angry, Haruno Sakura, knowing that you have possibly been framed by this..." He brought his face close to her ear before continuing, "criminal? And that right after commiting such terrible crimes himself he was allowed back into your village, while here you are running, fearing for your life as a missing nin because you know that they would believe him over you any day?" he continued to circle her.

Yes, she was angry. She was fucking pissed off! She felt her face grow hot at the sheer anger she felt, and she felt her eyes drift to the ground, as he continued his little speech.

"I can help you, Sakura, I can help you get what's yours. I can help you get revenge on...Sasuke. All you have to do, is pledge your allegiance to me. Join us, Sakura-san, and I ensure you that your indignance will not go unnoticed much longer. One little test stands between you and that right." He said, his chakra coming off of him in rolling waves.

Sakura stood, feet glued to the floor, her mind running circles around itself. She sighed, and wondered what it was she was becoming, did all missing nin go through this period? Did she want revenge on Sasuke? And even if she did, was it worth all this? And why was she even considering it?

"Join you. In the Akatsuki." She repeated, her voice dead. This was the same terrible organization that had been hunting her best friend for nearly his entire life, and now they were asking her to join them? It was crazy. It was ludicrous. It was insane. Sakura sighed and tilted her head up, her beryl eyes looking dead into his ringed ones.

"What do I have to do?"

.


	5. The Test and The Initiation

**Chapter Five: **The Test and The Initiation

.

Pein smiled somewhat menacingly, obvious pleased with her submission, and turned his head to the plant man standing next to his partner, "Zetsu, do we still have that...visitor...with us?"

Zetsu seemed perplexed for a moment until he remembered exactly what Pein was talking about, still keeping his eyes on the kunoichi, he said, "Yes, Leader-sama. What do you suggest we do with him? **Would you like me to dispose of him for you, sir**?"

"Well, that all depends upon Sakura-san. Konan, escort Sakura down to the chambers, Zetsu and I will meet you shortly. Explain to her the situation on the way down, would you?"

Konan nodded and motioned at Sakura to follow her, Sakura, although confused, obliged.

The two women exited the huge office and began making their way down the hallway and into one of the doors Sakura had seen on the way in. Before she could speak, as if reading her mind, Konan spoke for her.

"We captured a shinobi from the sound village about four days ago, we caught him sneaking around our complex, one of Orochimaru's subordinates I am sure."

"Orochimaru is dead isn't he?"

"That's what the records confirm but no one is completely sure. Even so, even if he is dead, he still had subordinates and probably still does trying to do what it was he failed to do when he was alive."

Konan, kept walking at her brisk pace, Sakura matching her stride for stride, down a long flight of dirty stone steps. Why were they going underground so far?

"Like Yakushi Kabuto for example. Anyhow, we caught him and now we can't seem to get any information out of him. He is incredibly crass and rude and he will make inappropriate comments, he bit me once and it took all I could to keep Pein from killing him. We needed whatever information he has. We still do." She stopped at an old wooden door, a dungeon style door and placed her hand on the handle before stopping and turning to Sakura.

"I need you to get out the information for me, you may use any form of interrogation you can think of, as long as he doesn't die until we get the info we need. Can you do this, Sakura-san? If not, you need to tell me right now. I have to warn you...this may be alot more than what you have been exposed to in Konoha, if you can't handle it you need to let me know now, because once you go in there there's no going back."

Sakura felt Konan's warm hand on her arm and noted the concerned look in her eye. She smiled and Konan smiled back.

"Yes...I..I think I can do this. Thank you Konan-san," Konan looked down at the ground almost sheepishly before speaking.

"You know, I really hope you can join us, I have been wanting another female around here. To talk to you know? It gets quite boring surrounded by men all of the time," She pushed open the door, "Okay, here we go."

The room was dark and smelled wet, they must have been quite a ways down, Sakura sniffed the mildewed air with distaste.

"Ahh, welcome to my interrogation room, Sakura-san."

The Leader. How did he get down here so quickly?

"Are you ready, Sakura-san? Your test is ready to begin, all I need is your consent." He said, his velvety voice spreading all around the room, making the darkness seem even darker than it was.

Did she have a choice anyway? It was too late to go back now.

Sakura swallowed hard and sucked down whatever doubt she had. Finally, she held her chin up high and spoke, her voice not quivering one bit.

"I'm ready."

"Good, then we can begin. Zetsu, the lights please."

All of a sudden the room was filled with a bright, fluorescent glow. Sakura's eyes were assaulted with the drastic change in lighting and she immediately brought her hand up to her eyes to shield them from the attack. After they had gotten used to it, Sakura looked around the room, her stomach feeling even more queasy than it had before. There were chains and shackles all over the walls, the sheen of fresh and dried blood covered them and made them look like they were painted red. There were all kind of torture devices planted all over this room, everything from electric chairs to an old iron maiden stood against the walls. This was sick, there was no way she could go through with this.

Her eyes found a chair that was sitting in the middle of the room and immediately she knew that whoever she was supposed to interrogate was sitting in that chair, only problem was that chair was turned around, so she couldn't see who was in it. Pein seemed to notice this and motioned for Zetsu to flip the chair around, which he did.

The sound of Sakura's gasp filled the room as he did.

Her hands trembled.

Her skin grew pale.

Her throat was closing up.

Her stomach contents were sloshing.

She was going to be sick.

There in that chair, sat a young man - if he could even be called that - and Sakura knew he could only be about 12 or 13 at the most, his skin sallow and his eyes closed. He was unconscious. They wanted her to interrogate - torture was a better word, she thought - this...this...boy! He was just a child, she turned to Konan and Zetsu, eyes pleading. Zetsu turned away from her, and Konan looked at her with those soft, soothing blue eyes. She could almost hear her thoughts as she looked at her.

'I know. I know.'

Maybe there was a way that she could get information out of him without injuring him too much. YES! Inner Sakura did an arm pump in the air, she could get away with this by not hurting this boy, and getting what she needed. All she needed was her pack and a few common ingredients that she was sure they would have around this base. Pein spoke first.

"Sakura-san, do what you need to with our little friend here, Konan-san and Ihave other business to attend to. Zetsu will stay here with you, ask him to fetch you anything you need. When you are done record the information for me and give it to Zetsu. Zetsu?"

"Yes, Leader-sama?" Zetsu seemed uncomfortable for some odd reason, and Pein wondered if it had anything to do with the girl. He made a mental note to speak with Zetsu later, he couldn't have one of his subordinates going soft for the medic-nin. That wouldn't do at all.

He continued, "Take her to her assigned quarters when she is done, I will have Tobi and Deidara make the preperations in her room so she will have clothes and supplies."

Zetsu nodded demurely, and just before Pein walked out of the room he stopped, never turning around. "Oh and Zetsu?"

"Leader-sama?"

"Dispose of the body when she is done. Whether or not he's dead already. Do not let him go. I wouldn't want anymore Sound Ninja invading my village, now would I?"

"**Of course, Leader-sama.** ...As you wish."

And before anyone knew it, Konan and Pein were gone in a wist of smoke.

.

Sakura sat on her bed, her knees to her chest, rocking slightly back and forth, silent tears streaming down her face.

She couldn't do this. She just couldn't...

_Once the two had left, Zetsu silently turned to Sakura, feeling oddly uneasy for the woman. "Is there anything you require, Sakura-san?"_

_She didn't speak. Not one single word. She just blinked her eyes quickly and continued to stare at the child who was about to become a snack for an overgrown weed. Sakura sighed, she supposed it really didn't matter how she did this now, considering the poor boy was going to die anyways._

_"No, Zetsu-san. Thank you."_

_With a shudder and few unshed tears, Sakura pressed her chakra infused hand to the boy's temple to wake him up._

After she was done, she wrote down the information on a scroll and handed it to Zetsu, who showed her to her room. She would have been ecstatic about how lavish her new bedroom was if she hadn't felt so terrible inside. After she had said her quiet goodnight to him, she crawled ontop of the huge bed and sat there in the same position, for how long she had no idea.

She wouldn't be able to sleep tonight, this much she knew. She stood up stoically and walked towards where Zetsu had showed her where her bathroom was - her own bathroom, one more thing she would have been ecstatic about, had she not felt so horrid.

She needed a shower, if nothing else than to purge the disgust she felt within her, she smelled pretty bad too.

Her bathroom was indeed very lavish, what with the huge square footage and the lovely attributes inside. Sakura stood, almost excited despite the days rather tiring events, and took in the scenery. There was a white and light green marbled floor, with plain - but not unattractively so - smooth white walls. A huge black granite tub was centered in the room, adorned by platinum plated faucets and knobs, and a very large stand up shower was in the corner, large enough for at least three people. There were alot of cherry wood cabinets, all holding normal household bathroom supplies and some toiletries. Sakura would have to go out and fetch some more things and clothing too, when the option became ready to her, but for now what she had was quite enough to take a nice, hot, long shower. She had really wanted to try out the bathtub, but if she got in it she knew she would fall asleep and she really didn't want someone to come waltzing in and seeing her naked, in the tub asleep.

That simply wouldn't do at all.

Sakura was drying her hair in the bathroom, when she heard a knock at the door. It was awfully late for anyone to be up, but she didn't give it that much thought as she went to the door and opened it. To her surprise - and pleasure actually - she found Konan standing on the other side, a small smile on her pretty features.

"Can I come in?" She asked, she would have been considered shy in Sakura's opinion if she didn't hold herself with such poised grace. Sakura merely nodded, a small smile of her own as stepped aside to let the kunoichi pass. Konan entered and stood near to the door, removing something from her pocket and handing it Sakura. Sakura took the object, noting it was an envelope, and she cast a puzzling glare at Konan, who merely smiled that trademark tiny smile and said, "An advancement on your first month's pay. So you can get some weapons, supplies, clothes, things of that nature."

"Akatsuki is a paying job?" Sakura asked, she honestly didn't realize that they got a paycheck every month. She knew that they had to have some kind of money, she just figured that they made it themselves.

Konan merely nodded and smiled, "Open it."

Sakura pulled the flap on the envelope open and smiled widely at the contents inside. Inside that envelope had to be enough money to equivalent two A-Ranked missions put together. There was enough money in here for her to live comfortably for at least a month, if not more.

"Akatsuki members get this every month?" She asked disbelieving. Konan nodded and perched herself on the bed, looking pleased with Sakura's obvious excitement.

"Yes. Not too long ago it wasn't like this, Pein and I were currently holed up here, our financial situation not so well, with all of the other members scraping and surviving the best way they knew how. But," She paused for a moment, as if pondering what exactly to say, and then continued, "We came into a very good investment, and then another, and others began to practically fall in our laps and we managed to make something out of nothing. Eventually, we had our first goal well over completedly."

"Which is?" Sakura tilted her head.

"Our first and most base goal was to accumulate mass amounts of funds. For obvious reasons." She was fiddling with the strap on her boot, when her head popped up with a little, 'oh'. "Sakura, I very nearly forgot. We have to get you your things."

She stood abruptly and bowed before walking out of the room. Sakura barely had time to be confused before Konan re-entered, nothing visible to be found. She held out her hand as if trying to give Sakura something, and Sakura followed suit. Konan placed the object in her hand, slowly closing Sakura's fingers over the cold metal circular object. Sakura opened her hand to reveal a white gold ring, adorned with a silver-blue stone the kanji symbol for 'star' in the middle. She examined the little ring closely before looking up to Konan for instructions.

"You are to wear it on your right middle finger, and I will take you to the dressing rooms to get fitted for your cloak. Then we will head to the kitchen as I am sure you are starving. First though, I need to give you the rules. You are allowed to go anywhere in the compound that you would like, except for the other members quarters, unless they invite you of course. You are also not allowed into the meeting room, except when Pein has summoned you. I would not recommend going any higher than the fifth floor of the building, which shouldn't be a problem seeing as there isn't much up there. Do you have all that?"

Sakura nodded, silently hoping that Konan would hurry so that they could get on with the tour of the complex, she wouldn't lie and say that she wasn't even the slightest bit interested in what this giant place held. Konan gave a genuine smile and bowed, "Well shall we get started?"

Sakura smiled genuinely and chimed in, "Yes we shall."

.


	6. Just To Get You Started

**Chapter Six: **Just to Get You Started

.

As the two women walked down the seemingly endless array of hallway, Sakura finally remembered a question that she had been meaning to ask since she had gotten out of her shower. From what she had seen all Akatsuki members had partners, and she was anxious - if not a little worried - to see who she would get paired up with. Her mind did a few run throughs so she could narrow down her options. Sasori was dead - she did that personally - so he was a no go. The Takigakure nin, known as Kakuzu, was also deceased as was Itachi, so they were out also. Kakuzu's partner, Hidan, was presumed to be 'eliminated' but one could never know seeing as he was immortal, and was probably still stuck in that hole where Shikamaru had left him. So really...all that left was: The Iwagakure nin, Deidara - but he had a partner, the annoying little nuisance known only as Tobi - Itachi's old partner, the Kirigakure nin, Hoshigaki Kisame, and Zetsu.

Really all it boiled down to was the shark or the plant, and Sakura was wondering which one was better. Finally as they entered the fitting room, Sakura asked the Kunoichi who was currently shifting through racks to see which cloak would fit the new member, who she would be partnered with.

"Konan-san, I have one more question." The blue haired kunoichi looked at her and gave another sweet smile.

"Yes?"

"I was wondering. Akatsuki all have partners correct?"

Konan nodded and then said, "Well...everyone but Zetsu and Kisame. Let me guess...you are wondering who you will be partnered with?"

Sakura nodded and Konan laughed, "Hmm. Let see, this one should work," She handed a short cloak to Sakura who slid it on, noting that it was a little long but would definitely do, and the Konan continued.

"Well the most likely option is Kisame, who is used to working with a partner. Zetsu...doesn't seem to get along with people all that well...so he mostly works alone. His type of skills require him to be mostly alone, as he delves into a more espionage suited missionary status. But who knows? You may be the first to work with him."

She smiled and picked a straw kasa off the shelf and handed it to Sakura, who tried it on to see it also fit well. "Why doesn't he like people?" Sakura said while snapping up her cloak, wondering why he would be so adverse to interaction.

"Well...I'm not sure, but most of what we know about Zetsu is that he prefers to be alone, and that he's much older than everyone thinks he is."

"And how old is that?" Sakura cocked an eyebrow as Konan led her out of the fitting rooms, and down the hall to where she presumed was the kitchen.

"Oh..well. I'd say he's about 90...maybe a hundred years."

Sakura almost choked on her own saliva. A hundred years old! But he looked so...unlike a hundred year old man! Of course her mind reminded her that in the shinobi world nothing is as it seems. Kakuzu was the only other Akatsuki member that she knew of who was old like that, but that was because he had to continuously replace his hearts when they were either destroyed or when they gave out. What was Zetsu's secret?

"Surprising I know, but as I hear it, he was even there at the battle in the Valley of The End. He never talks about it though, so all you can know is what people tell you, or what you read. The only member he seems to ever really talk to is Pein, and even then it's not for long."

Sakura revelled over what she was just told. If he was indeed at the battle in the Valley of The End, that would certainly make him quite the older man, but how did he keep on living for so long if he wasn't immortal? That's when she remembered something and a blonde haired, blue eyed best friend of hers popped into her mind. Ino.

_"Some plants can even live to be over a hundred years old. There was one documented case of a tree that they found that was carbon dated to be over four hundred years! Isn't that amazing Sakura?"_

At the time, Sakura really hadn't found it all that amazing, but now it made sense. If Zetsu was in fact, half plant like he seemed, then that in itself could be the reasoning as to why he was so old, and who knew how much longer he could live if he wasn't killed. Sakura found herself a bit intrigued by the oh-so-mysterious man, and found herself wanting to know more about him, even if he was cannibalistic. That fact didn't really scare her as much as she had figured it would, but she could really see why it wouldn't, after all she had seen stranger kekkei genkai than his, if that's what it was. Afterall, he hadn't eaten her right? Of course she knew if she had to watch the...act...her opinion might change. Finally, the two kunoichi had made their way to the incredibly large kitchen, and Sakura did a double take at the intricacy of it, the appliances were all new and shiny. There were at least three large refrigerators and two stove tops, a sushi grill and a bar! A bar, with lots of different alcohol behind it. She supposed that for a missing nin, this was as good as it would ever get. Hell for a shinobi period, this was good; she herself had been living in a tiny flat for the past three years. She noticed that there was a door frame on the side leading off to a dining area and two big double doors leading somewhere else.

"Well, this is the kitchen. You may help yourself to anything you see fit that's available, there is also a mini refrigerator in your bedroom in case you buy something solely for yourself. The grocery shopping is done bi-weekly, by who ever is scheduled that day."

Sakura couldn't help the giggle that came out of her mouth. A group of infamous missing nin, dangerous men, went grocery shopping! It was too much! An image conjured up in her head of Leader and Konan, walking through the aisles, Leader picking up a box of cookies and Konan slapping his hand and telling him that he could not have any cookies today, because she couldn't afford them. Before she could let out another bout of the giggles something, a blur of black and orange, came flying out at her knocking her to the ground and squeezing the life out of her.

"OOOOH! Tobi likes the new girl, Konan-chan! Can we keep her? Can we!" The orange and black thing had to be yanked off of Sakura - who was wide eyed with shock - by the seemingly calm Konan. Sakura stood face to face with the one only known as Tobi, who had seemed to take quite a liking to the rosette haired kunoichi and Sakura wondered if he was always this chipper.

Finally Konan spoke, "Tobi, what did Leader-sama tell you about attacking people? Tch. Tobi, this is our new member, Haruno Sakura. And yes," She paused for a moment with a small smile, "She will be staying with us. Sakura, this is Tobi."

Sakura slowly held her hand out to Tobi, who took it and then shook vigorously. She could briefly remember seeing this one in action and in all honesty it all seemed a little off to her. He acted like a complete idiot but the way he fought well...it just wasn't what she had expected. Before she could say anything or do anything a voice resounded from the doorway of the kitchen.

"Tobi, don't glomp the rookie, un. She might catch stupid." Sakura snapped her gaze to the man standing in the doorway, non-chalantly nibbling on an apple, his blonde hair cascading over one eye, leaving an ice-blue gaze to stare directly into.

Sakura clenched her hands at her sides and Tobi turned around, arms waving wildly.

"Deidara-senpai! That's mean!" He bounced over to his partner, to which Deidara gave a scowl of annoyance and walked into the kitchen.

"You must be the new member. Deidara, nice to meet you, yeah." He held his hand out, a sly half smile that looked more like a smirk on his features, and Sakura couldn't help but stare down at his hand. She felt a sense of tenseness around this man, because after all this was the guy who killed Gaara and then proceeded to use his dead body like a Lay-Z Boy. Still she took his hand anyway - unsure if she really wanted to be licked by his weird mouth hands -, shaking it almost too firmly.

"Haruno Sakura. And yes I am the new member apparently."She had to prevent herself from narrowing her eyes, a numb sort of bitterness radiating through her veins. She didn't know how to handle this right now. Why were they all being so...hospitable? Weren't they supposed to be mean, evil and cruel? She thought she might have been able to handle that better than whatever this was.

Deidara just gave a good-natured chuckle and pointed behind him, to the bouncing man near the table.

"Yeah, well don't mind Tobi too much. I'm pretty sure he's mentally deficient, so we don't hold it against him, yeah." Tobi just hung his head and placed his hands on his hips.

"I'll keep that in mind. Thanks." She smiled halfheartedly and watched as he walked over to a counter and propped himself on top of it, still nibbling on the juicy fruit.

"It gets pretty boring around here, but when Kisame comes back it should be more exciting, yeah. I'm pretty sure you two will get along just nicely."

"I am certainly hoping so, as Haruno-san will be with us awhile." Came a voice from the other side of the kitchen, and everyone's eyes snapped towards the tall, orange headed man walking into the room from outside, Zetsu right next to him.

Deidara let out a tiny noise of dissapproval and said, "With all due respect, Leader-sama, are you sure that's a good idea? You know Kisame is still moping around about the loss of his girlfriend."

"I heard that, Deidara!" A yell resounded from far away down the hallways, and Deidara's eye sort of lit up.

"Kisame's back, un."

"He just returned, actually. Although, he took quite a few injuries and could be patched up." Pein's ringed gaze fell on Sakura, who just nodded her head. She couldn't lie and say she wasn't interested in meeting the infamed Hoshigaki Kisame, and if he needed her help than she would gladly give it.

Healing people seemed to take away from the stress and guilt of killing them that she was plagued with sometimes. A part of her nagged that healing one of these people was nothing short of treachery but another part, a larger and more traitorous part, relieved her because now she was one of these people. In a manner of speaking. The thought made her heart throb so she pushed it back down, she certainly didn't need it right now.

"Sakura-san, if you would so kindly allow Deidara and Tobi to show you to the infirmary, I'll send Kisame up shortly."

"Hai, Leader-sama. I take it that I'll be working there mostly in my spare time?" She asked, trying to keep her tone as neutral and polite as possible even if the feelings of uneasiness would rise when she was around him. He was just so damn intimidating, with that ringed glare that seemed to cut right through you. She chanced a glance at his partner and she couldn't help but notice the almost sincere and revering way she looked at Pein. There was something else though, something she tried to keep hidden from everyone else but him, and if Sakura hadn't been actively searching for it she would have definitely missed it.

It was love.

Sakura felt her gaze soften at the older woman, and she shot a soft smile towards her. Konan caught her eye and smiled back, equally as soft. She didn't notice the pair of golden eyes that were burning through her.

"Of course. We don't want your healing skills to go to waste now would we?" He gave her a smirk that made her slightly uncomfortable, his tone was mocking and it made Sakura feel insignificant. She had a feeling that he did that to everyone.

Her gaze traveled from him to the man standing at his right, and for some reason she wasn't aware of, she shot him a smile. He didn't smile back, of course, but he did look away, which confused her a little, but she waved it off as she felt a very persistent tug on her arm. She looked up to see an orange mask right in front of her face, and she smiled at him. Deidara was on the opposite side of her.

"C'mon, Sakura-chan, I'll show you to the infirmary."

.

She sighed in slight relief as the door was shut behind her and she set off to prepare the things that she would need to patch up Kisame, who had still not arrived. Deidara mentioned something about the sharkman not liking to be healed, and would possibly be reluctant about it, but he was still a pretty cool guy to hang out with...yeah. She felt something odd tugging at her insides and she identified it as guilt.

She felt guilty for seemingly being so at ease with this place, and while she was still very wary, she definitely wasn't as wary as she felt she should be. After all these were all dangerous criminals, even Konan who Sakura was pretty sure wasn't really dangerous unless need be, she was still part of one of the most evil organizations in the world. She opened a cabinet and noted happily that it was well stocked with various kinds of poison antidotes, vaccinations, and pills. She pulled opened another cabinet and found it to hold various different herbal remedies and bandages of every kind. The infirmary was definitely well stocked but it didn't seem like it had seen much use in it's days. That would soon change, she knew, now that she was here to patch up the guys when she wouldn't be out. She leaned on the windowsill and looked out into the gloomy and rain cloud darkened streets of the village below her. What a twist life was, she mused, and her life had definitely taken a turn lately, although she couldn't really be sure if it was for the worst or not.

She wanted to go home, this she knew indefinitely, but she felt some sort of peace in this odd place. The only thing that really truly frightened her was the fact that she knew that the Akatsuki were still on the hunt for the jinchuuriki, and that they might catch Naruto. A little chill flowed through her body and she couldn't repress the visible shiver. What would Naruto think if he saw her like this? What would he think if he knew that she had become part of the very organization that had made it their mission of capturing him and ultimately killing him? He would be hurt, upset, angry, dissappointed. She prayed that they would never catch him, she couldn't bear to be responsible for her best friend's death. She felt a prickle behind her eyes and clenched them closed in desperation. No crying! Crying wasn't going to get her anywhere, she would just have to take it one day at a time and hope beyond hope that they would either give up the hunt for the bijuu or that they never got their hands on Naruto.

She was ripped back to real life when she heard the door creak open. She turned around slowly, and her eyes slightly bulged out when she laid eyes upon the person who just walked in. She had only ever seen pictures of him, but they were not even close to depict the pure, oddness of his features.

Well for starters, he was huge! Not like fat huge, or even incredibly tall huge-he was tall, near as tall as Zetsu was - but he was so broad! Both of her legs could probably fit into one of his pantlegs, and his shoulders were quite bulky and hard looking. His face was hard chiseled, looking like it was made out of some light slate marble, and his blue hair hung over his small, yet very bright eyes. She noted that his hitai-ate was off, which allowed his normally gravity defying hair to hang down. Upon closer inspection she noticed that the odd gill markings on his face were in fact not just that. The way they ruffled slightly in the air showed that they were actual gills. He was definitely an odd specimen, although she couldn't say he was unnattractive really.

"Whoa! You're the new member? Go figure, you of all people. What is up with you goody leaf nin and your defecting?" His voice was deep and rumbling and he let out a good-natured chuckle.

She gave him a look a confusion and said, "You know who I am?" To this he just laughed again and took a seat on the examination table, dangling his very long legs off the edge making him look like a big kid at a doctor's checkup. A very big kid.

"I wouldn't be much of a missin' nin if I didn't now would I? You're Haruno Sakura, student of the copy ninja and apprentice to Tsunade, the current Hokage. We do our homework too, ya know."

He flashed her a row of sharp-looking, pointed teeth, his smile more warm and teasing than malevolent like she figured that he would have been. Sakura merely tilted her head, wondering why he didn't scare her as much as he should, but she started second guessing everything she felt since she got here. Her mind and her heart seemed to be going in two different directions, having a tug-o-war over the rest of her. Her mind was telling her that this wasn't right, that she had a duty as a Konoha shinobi, that she was a traitor for even thinking that she could fit in here; that she was a traitor period. Her heart was telling her that maybe it wasn't so bad if she didn't see them as big scary criminals, that apparently her duty to her village wasn't important enough if the word of one previously defected bastard could get her run out, and that she was condemned to be a traitor anyway, thanks to Sasuke. She let her gaze fall on the large, blue man who was sitting on the table and she snapped out of her mind and stood up straighter, walking towards him.

"So what exactly happened to have Leader send you up here?" She looked into his eyes, and noted the sheepish grin that had overcome his face as he pulled up his shirt, revealing a very large however shallow gash that ran across the top of his navel to stretch all the way up to his collarbone. Sakura's mouth hung open, as her instincts went directly into medic mode.

"Gah! What the hell happened?" She asked as she rushed over to his side, immediately gathering chakra into her fingertips. Even if the wound wasn't that deep, he still could have bled out eventually or gotten a very bad infection without proper care. Upon further inspection she could see the very beginnings of an infection starting to show, and she gave a disapproving click of her tongue at the shark. The chakra in her fingers disappeared as she realized that the wound would need cleaning before mending it. She took an alcohol swab and ripped it open, pulling out the little pad and approaching him slowly.

"Some idiot with a kitana thought he could best me, I shaved half of his body off with Samehada though." He smiled viciously, as if remembering the fight with savor, "Didn't get away unscathed though, obviously." He added almost bitterly. Something told her he didn't care much for having weaknesses.

Sakura began to clean his wound up and looked up interestedly, "Samehada..That's your sword right?"

"Yup, one and only." He said and she noted a hint of affection in his voice when he spoke of it. According to Kakashi, it was a huge almost sentient like weapon that 'survived' and thrived off of chakra, taking it from it's victims and somehow transferring it to it's wielder. It didn't so much as slice as it shredded really, and could take chunks off of a human in a matter of seconds.

It was deadly and precise, just like it's owner.

All in all though, it was quite an interesting piece of equipment, and the only weapon that was almost alive and sucked through chakra the way it did. Sakura made a note to ask him if she could examine it one day, for research purposes.

"Were you just going to let this go unhealed?" She asked him, slowly trailing chakra along the wound, watching it heal seamlessly.

He just shrugged and watched with a slightly impressed look on his face. "You certainly have some talent there eh, little leaf?"

Sakura shrugged and blushed a tiny bit from the praise. She wasn't really that used to praise or any kind of good constructive feedback from anyone and when she got it it never ceased to make her feel warm inside.

"I guess. You don't how many times it got me out of a tight situation." She looked up at him, and began to wrap a bandage around his midsection, as the skin was still very fragile and could still be ripped with enough force.

"I bet. A pretty handy thing to know in our line of business, eh?" He asked, still smiling that snarky grin that didn't fail to make Sakura smile back. 'Our line of business'. Just another reminder that essentially she was the same as he was, even if not really on the same side. A rogue shinobi was still a shinobi even if they just fought for different things. He let out a little shiver as she ran her hands along his chest, checking for internal damage. Satisfied that there was none, she removed her hands just as promptly. Even if he too was an interesting specimen, she couldn't just go around digging inside of people looking for quirks.

"Yeah. I guess it is," She trailed off for a minute before she cleared her throat and stood up straighter, "Well there you go, Hoshigaki-san, all patched up and good as...well mostly new."

Kisame waved her off and closed his eyes for a second before opening them again, "Ack. None of that 'Hoshigaki-san' crap, just call me Kisame, okay?"

"Alright...Kisame." They sat for a moment in companionable silence before he stood up and stretched slightly.

"Well. I better get going, got another mission tomorrow and I need my beauty sleep," She chuckled at this and he laughed right along with her, "Thanks for the patchwork."

She nodded in response, cleaning up her area. He stopped right before he hit the door and turned around, smiling again. He smiled alot and she found that it made her feel more at ease with this whole situation.

"And it was nice to meet you, Sakura." He said it with such sincerity that she couldn't help but feel her heart tug a little. He really was a pretty cool guy, as Deidara had said, and was incredibly easygoing.

"It was nice to meet you too, Kisame. I would tell you to try and not move around too much but you already know that." He gave her another smirk. He waved one arm over his shoulder, almost just like Kakashi used to and was gone with the stealth and speed of a seasoned shinobi.

Sakura sighed as that traitorous feeling began to dwindle away and she had to wonder, what would she be like when this all came to a head? The possibility of growing used to this enviroment was not lost on her and it made her feel uneasy.

What was she going to do now?

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	7. Here's To You, Silly Girl

**Chapter Seven: **Here's to You, Silly Girl

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"Oh come on, Sakura-chan! You can do better than that, yeah."

The teasing voice came somewhere from her right, although she couldn't see or sense it's owner. Flicking a couple of well placed kunai into the trees above, she smiled in satisfaction when she heard a yelp and it seemed as if she had barely missed her training partner. She gathered chakra to her feet, racing up the tree and tackling him from behind, wrestling him down to the ground. She was situated on top of him, both knees on either side of his waist, a kunai held against his throat. She gave him a large, eye crinkling smile.

"Got you, Dei-kun."

With that she leapt up and offered a hand to pull him up. They had taken to training with eachother quite alot, finding that they were both very formidable opponents to eachother, and both had grown in a pretty easygoing friendship. Or as easygoing as two people who were supposed to be enemies could be. It was a complicated thing and Sakura had decided this about two weeks in. Nearly a month after her 'initiation' she could honestly say that she and Deidara had gotten pretty close and that fact didn't bother her as much as she knew it should.

Now that she thought about it, she had gotten that way with both Deidara and Kisame, Konan too and even Tobi - though he was kind of annoying sometimes. There was the exception of Pein which was to be expected; the day she labeled him as a friend would be the day that flying dumplings soared out of her ass, it was that unlikely. And Zetsu of course. She didn't know why this bugged her so much, but there was just something about him, he was so mysterious and intriguing and it made her want to learn more about him. She hadn't had the chance to try to approach him what with her training sessions with Deidara and her weapon sessions with Kisame, not to mention the time she spent with Konan and Tobi following behind her like a lost puppy. All in all though, she could say that she had grown much more attached to the members than she would have cared to, not that that made a bit of difference as it seemed she couldn't cut off the attachment if she tried. What was the point now?

Honestly she didn't want to. They were the only semblance of friendship that she had now, the only people that she could relate to anymore. She would be the first to admit that they were bad, criminals, and all around vicious when it came down to it; but they really weren't evil. Their goals and maybe their ambitions were somewhat disorienting, and their fighting styles were brutal, but they were still human.

All of them.

She had especially grown attached to Kisame and Deidara.

Kisame was like an older brother, or even a close uncle. He was like a mentor and sometimes she even felt compelled to call him Kisame-senpai, but didn't considering he wasn't much for honorifics. He gave her tips and helped her learn how to store up her chakra and make it larger, he helped her with her weapon mastery, and with her kinjutsu. They exchanged friendly jokes and barbs over sake on various occasions, and even a game of chess or shogi. He wasn't really brutish, or unintelligent like most would perceive him. He taught her and even helped her hone her skills, and was quite informative when need be.

Deidara was like more like a kid brother, but one that wasn't that much younger than her. If anything she had to describe him as a very close cousin. He also helped her train, helped her with her ninjutsu and taijutsu, he even became a guinea pig of sorts for some of the new medicines that she would create. He took her on rides on his birds, and even showed her how to infuse chakra with clay to make some little explosives that they often would take out side and play with, almost like shooting off fireworks. They used teasing nicknames, like 'Cherry-chan' and 'Dei Dei-kun' and never took it seriously. Deidara had even saved her life one time. Of course it was from his own explosive but still the sentiment was not missed.

All in all, Kisame and Deidara both had won the sisterly affection of the cherry blossom haired girl.

However it never strayed from that point. She wouldn't lie and say that Deidara wasn't quite gorgeous, or that Kisame wasn't completely overrun with alpha-male quality, she couldn't lie and say that if they weren't as close as they were that she might feel some sort of physical attraction for either of them.

But that simply wasn't the case, she didn't feel that way because she didn't see them that way. They were her mentors, her helpers, her trainers, her friends and maybe even the best friends that she would have anymore.

Besides that, she found it harder and harder to ignore the odd, misplaced feelings that one particular man kept bringing her.

Maybe it was his utter mystery, maybe it was his look, exotic as it was. Maybe it was the way he only spoke when spoken to, one side mechanical and sometimes polite, the other being rough and tough, but laced with emotion. Maybe it was the simple way that he would look at her, those bronze eyes making her feel something that she hadn't felt in a long time, or maybe had never felt before. Maybe it was because she saw something in those depths of gold, something that to her read frustration with his tormented double personality, and maybe even irritation with his past. Things he could never say but had wanted to, if just to clear the air.

Maybe it was that she wanted to help him, just like she had wanted to help Sasuke.

Maybe it was the way electricity would shoot through her spine when they brushed against eachother in the hallway from time to time, however brief it was.

Maybe she had lost her fucking mind.

Maybe it was just all of those things. Whatever it was though, Sakura knew that she couldn't ignore it anymore. She couldn't tell herself that she hadn't developed a desire to know him better, she couldn't tell herself that sometimes she felt she needed to.

What was stopping her now anyway? He couldn't really be that adverse to having a friend, could he?

Could he?

She looked up at her blonde counterpart, suddenly remembering where she was, and he smiled sheepishly, admitting defeat.

"Okay, okay, maybe you did, yeah. But you did cheat you know."

A mock indignant look crossed her face and they started walking back from the training fields. She nudged him in the ribs.

"Yeah, yeah whatever. I did no such thing. You're just a sore loser and can't handle a little girl kicking your butt."

"If it's you, I don't mind it much. You can kick my butt anyday, babe."

He wiggled his eyebrows and Sakura just laughed out, shoving him lightly again.

They walked silently for the rest of the way, and Sakura relished the slight rays of sun that were peaking from behind the clouds, however brief they were. She didn't really want to go back inside, but she knew she might as well, seeing as she was starving and she had promised the rest of the members that she would make dinner tonight.

Once back inside she began to gather the ingredients out of the refrigerator for the meal, and waved to Deidara when he mentioned something about going to take a shower.

As sudden as if someone had dropped a bag of bricks on her head, she was assaulted by the most uncomfortable feeling. It was low in her stomach, twisting and churning and she almost felt sick but not quite. A small wave of lightheadedness swirled around in her head, making her clench the counter in retaliation. In that small moment between the almost-sickness and the dizziness she realized what exactly it was that was bothering her and the realization only served to intensify that feeling.

Guilt. She felt guilty. She felt incredibly guilty but not for the reason she should have felt guilty for. She should have been having second thoughts about her situation, for siding with the enemy as easily as she had. She should have felt guilt over trying to form bonds and relationships with these people, these criminals. She should have been scolding herself for committing such an obvious and terrible brand of treason, she should have felt bad for not being in Konoha where she belonged, even though she knew she couldn't be if she wanted to be a free woman - or alive. No, she wasn't feeling remorse over that, or at least nowhere near enough remorse as she should have been feeling and that was the reason this surge of guilt was settling in her gut.

She simply didn't feel guilty _enough_.

She wanted to slam her fists down on the countertop or even brashly start a goddamned war right there in the kitchen with every member in the base to somehow persuade herself that she wasn't the same as these people. She wanted to cry or scream or run away back to Konoha to prove or beg her innocence, if just for the simple fact to prove to herself above anyone else that she wasn't the dirty traitor that everyone probably thought she was.

She did nothing of the sort, deciding instead to sigh deeply and grab a pepper to start cutting up for dinner.

As she chopped up the vegetables she purged her brain to force herself to forget the thoughts that would ultimately make her job harder and instead came up with a safer topic. Honestly she couldn't help but wonder why she hadn't been partnered up yet and it was something that had been bothering her for some time. It had been over three weeks since she had set foot in this place and she had yet to be sent out on a mission. She didn't have much time to wonder though, as she felt the ominous chakra seep through the halls, almost predatory. She addressed him before he even came through the door. Good thing she didn't start that pseudo-war then.

"Hello, Leader-sama."

He popped out through the doorway, and smiled a tiny little smirk. He looked almost approachable for a minute. Almost.

"Good evening, Sakura-san. Ahh, takoyaki and stir fry? Smells wonderful."

Sakura couldn't help the confused look that overcame her. Well he was certainly being awfully chatty today wasn't he? She smiled a small yet still wary smile and nodded respectively. Or as respectively as she could anyway.

"Yes sir, although I doubt the reason that you sought me out was to talk about dinner." She said with as much respect as she could. No need to stir the pot...or something.

"You wouldn't have gotten as far as you have if you weren't perceptive, Sakura-san. Yes, I did come to speak with you about something. Sit."

He motioned to the chair opposite of him at the large table. Sakura merely put down her knife and brushed her hands on her apron. Her cloak was in her room, and most of the members didn't really wear it around the compound. She sat across from him, her green eyes lit with interest.

"I have chosen a partner for you."

"Oh." She was surprised indefinitely, here she was thinking about it a few moments ago and he comes in and tells her that he has found a partner for her.

She couldn't help but feel a little nervous about it. The only two options were Kisame and Zetsu, and although she doubted that she would get paired with the latter, she couldn't help but know that it was indeed an option, however small of an option it was.

"I have assigned you to a mission with Zetsu. A little trial run if you will. Of course I haven't told him yet."

Wow. She didn't know if she was lucky or unlucky, though something told her to settle for the latter. That previous gut churning returned with a surprising amount of force.

Unknown to Sakura he had noticed the rather friendly way that she was getting on with Kisame and had decided that such emotions - be they platonic or not - would only get in the way of a successful mission. At least with such a fresh member. She was still new to the world of nukenin and his trust of her didn't extend beyond more than a very tight and short leash. That leash just happened to be Zetsu. While Kisame was a wonderful shinobi - not that he'd actually admit that aloud - he knew that the shark-man was quite the free thinker and he couldn't let Sakura roam about without someone he knew for a face would keep her in line in her path. Zetsu wouldn't hesitate to yank the proverbial leash if he had even an inkling that she was getting too antsy for her own good and if she got a mind to go running back to her village with any information she might have that could get her off the hook he wouldn't hesitate to silence her completely. Sakura hadn't committed the crimes she had been accused of - something he had known from the start - and she might still have it in mind to be on the prowl for something that could prove her innocence. And he simply couldn't allow that. Despite walking out of Konohagakure with the intention of running from the law, if she were to gain the upperhand on one of their most dangerous enemies - and the information was valuable enough - she might just be welcomed back in with open arms. Uchiha Sasuke had done the same and he was allowed back in when he killed Orochimaru; it didn't go above his reasoning that Konoha would want one of it's promising shinobi back, especially if she had important information on the Akatsuki.

That would only prove far more troublesome and detrimental to his plans and he couldn't have it happening. It was the reason he had been on the fence about extending an 'invitation' to her in the first place but Konan had argued in her favor and the compliments that she'd bring to the organization were far too alluring to let fall into anyone else's hands. She was a young and bright kunoichi indeed but adding in that she had near impeccable chakra control and was one of the best medics in the entire shinobi world - one of only three that they knew of - and well she made a wonderful selling point. That still didn't mean she wouldn't act out dangerously and if she was paired with Kisame well...

While Kisame was indeed loyal enough and usually he never witnessed him getting particularly chummy with anyone, the pink haired girl seemed to have a way with getting under his skin. It was somewhat alarming but not unexpected. Anyone would have a difficult time trying to dissuade an attractive woman from being close to them, especially one with such a quirky and unusual attitude.

Anyone except Zetsu.

Partnering her with Zetsu would not only be a more apt choice due to his excellent skills with keeping her in line but on a unrelated note it might also prove her worth to the organization if Sakura would be able to work with someone who was only accustomed to working alone - if she made it out alive.

"When are you going to talk to him about it?" She inquired, trying to ignore the anxious bubbling in her stomach.

"I'm not. You are."

Sakura felt the bile rise up in her stomach, nauseousness taking over. The smell of the sizzling food on the stove quickly becoming more overbearing than appetizing. It was no secret that Zetsu didn't really do the partner thing. Not to mention that the only words the two - or three if you wanted to look at it that way - had exchanged had been very few and very brief and had been almost a month ago.

"And if he declines?" Sakura asked, fiddling with her black arm warmers. Seriously, then what?

"It's your job to see that he doesn't. Keep in mind, Sakura, that he has never had a partner before, and he will probably protest to it. I suggest you don't wear anything..revealing while speaking with him. He has a thing for skin...and not a good thing."

He watched as a strange look overtook her face, becoming pale and flushed at the same time. He stood up and she nodded demurely, watching him walk out of the kitchen and back up to the rooftop he normally spent most of his time at.

Sakura returned to the sizzling on the stove and tried desperately to keep her mind off of what was about to ensure, hoping that it wouldn't end as terrible as her stomach kept telling her it would. With whatever resolve that she had left, she sighed deeply as she stared into the pan, the little voice echoing throughout her brain with a somber tone.

'Well here it goes, Sakura. The first day of the rest of your miserably awkward life.'

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Dinner passed by in what should have been a fairly easy affair but to her it was just an uncomfortable delay to a disaster. One that left her swirling in thoughts of what exactly she would say to her new 'partner' when she sought him out. She had really tried to get into the conversation that Deidara and Kisame were immersed in - something about steel weapons over titanium - but found her mind drifting off in other directions. Every other meal she had spent in the compound had been strangely comfortable, like she hadn't been sharing her meals with S-Class criminals. Tonight it was different, she felt completely out of her domain and it had nothing to do with the people who were surrounding her and everything to do with the one who wasn't.

Zetsu never ate with the rest of the members - even Pein occasionally came down from his hidey-hole on the roof to join them when Konan asked him to - and usually she found herself wishing that just one time he might but tonight she was infinitely glad he hadn't. Briefly she wondered if he ate anything but...people and just remembering that little fact caused her skin to itch in what felt like was the onset of hives. She really had to get herself together if she was going to do this. She exhaled loudly, wishing that she wasn't so nervous as she climbed up the several flights of back stairs that lead to the greenhouse. Konan had told her that when he wasn't out on missions or asleep that he could usually be found in the strange indoor botanical garden. She hadn't been there yet, having spent most of her own time blissfully lost in the huge library on the third floor but she had been meaning to visit. She knew the plant-man relished his privacy and that had also kept her away, despite the itching to get up there.

To see the greenery of course - the non-walking, non-talking greenery.

Her hands were sweaty, her stomach was churning and she knew she shouldn't have eaten dinner before she brought herself to come up here. Everything she had just nervously thrown back haphazardly was threatening to be thrown up, so to speak. She shouldn't be so damn nervous over something as simple as a mission! She clutched the scroll in her hand much tighter than she had meant to but had convinced herself that letting go of it would mean letting go of her nerve. If he got angry about her invasion she could just throw her hands up in defense and indicate that she had orders from Leader to do so. Maybe she wouldn't have to say anything, maybe he'd just see the scroll in her hand and get the point, he seemed to be perceptive like that.

She strode down a well lit hallway leading to the double doors that lead to the greenhouse - or it should if she had followed Konan's directions correctly - and stopped directly in front of the doors. Her eyes were fixed on the knob but she didn't make any move to open it.

_Aren't you going to open it?_ Her inner voice remarked snidely and she frowned deeper.

'Of course I am.'

_Anytime soon? Today perhaps? You have a mission in the morning and it's pretty late as it is..._

'I'm working on it, okay! Geez, I just needed some...reflection.'

_You're scared._

'Well of course I'm scared. Nobody likes seeing a set of teeth before they die...'

_Maybe but that's not all you're scared of. Huh?_

She knew that if she didn't open the door right at that very moment, her obnoxious inner voice would torment her forever. How funny, she thought, Zetsu's not the only one who's got a schizophrenic thing going on.

With her jaw firmly set and her her back absurdly straight she pushed the doorknob and entered the room before she could turn back. A small gasp of awe left her as her eyes took in her surroundings, previous reservations forgotten for the slightest moment.

It was like something in a fantasy book, an indoor paradise encased in glass and doused in so many shades of green she couldn't name a fourth of them. Sprinklings of colorful flowers and other plants settled amongst the green and though she couldn't see one she could have sworn that there was a waterfall somewhere, the sound of flowing water splashing into a pond alighting her ears delightfully. She looked up, noting with astonishment that there were actual rays of sun peeking in through the domed glass ceiling. How odd, considering it had been raining about five minutes ago. A genjutsu maybe? Did genjutsu work on plants? She hadn't the slightest idea seeing as she had never tried. She had to resist the urge to form the signs for the release to check her assumption, deciding that if it was indeed a genjutsu that the plants were obviously relying on it and she didn't need Zetsu angry with her for breaking it. She didn't need Zetsu angry with her _at all._

Speaking of the plant-like shinobi, where was he? She could sense his chakra here but it was different from before, much more calm and sedate as a whole. Sometimes it was as if he had two different chakra, each fighting to take priority. She knew that was probably ridiculous but when she usually felt around for it, or encountered it as they passed one another, she would feel it in seperate waves. The first was dark and somewhat torrential but almost hot, almost invading, sensational to feel; the second was completely calm and sort of dribbled into her like a slow moving stream of water into an a larger body of water but on the other hand was somewhat cold and very hesitant.

She caught something black in the corner of her eye and saw him leaning over a table in the far corner of the room. His back was to her and his cloak was off, lending her an interesting view of his surprisingly muscular back beneath it's thin mesh shirt. His carapace wasn't in it's usual place and Sakura briefly wondered why that was. She had never once seen him without it and honestly she didn't even know he could make it retreat. And where did it go anyway? Did it disappear into his body? How odd.

Then again, when faced with the oddity of a half-man half-plant...plant man, not to mention the other strange qualities in this organization, something as strange as disappearing venus-fly traps shouldn't be so alarming. She watched for a moment, making sure her chakra wasn't imposing but nor was it particularly masked, as he leaned over the counter further obviously quite ensnared with what he was doing to not have noticed her. Hesitantly she reached a bit out with a thin chakra tendril, calm and soothing, to let him know that he wasn't alone.

And what a mistake that was.

Before she could blink she felt something smooth whip up her body and entwine itself around her wrists, ankles and throat. With a loud 'oomph' she was sent back against the glass, struggling for air as the vine - she had clearly identified it as such - tightened threateningly around her neck.

"Zet-" She tried calling out but in vain, as her air supply was cut off. Of course she hadn't needed to call out to him as he whipped around, his eyes widening slightly and suddenly the pressure around her throat and appendages lessened and disappeared altogether, travelling back down into some unseen crack in the floor. She dropped to her shaky legs, gasping and choking on air as if it were the first time she had ever taken a breath, greedily gulping while she ignored the burning in her eyes. Normally she could have done something about an attack like that but as soon as the curious vines touched her they seemed to begin sucking her chakra away. Though not defenseless and not chakraless she had been so surprised that she didn't know how to respond anyway.

"Sakura...what are you doing here?"

She looked up at the man still several feet away from her, his even level voice breaking through her thoughts successfully, his chakra swarming around her slowly. It was the more polite side of his personality that had spoken but at that moment it didn't have the same calm, collected tone. He sounded angry and perhaps indignant for having his privacy intruded upon. He even dropped the polite honorific he had always used when addressing her - though it wasn't as if he did that often, address her that was. She ignored the fervent burning in her cheeks and looked up at him, not surprised to find the carapace back in it's usual place, his Akatsuki cloak looked as if it had never been off in the first place.

She said nothing as she tentatively approached him, picking up the scroll from the floor where she must have dropped it when she was nearly strangled to death. Coming to stand a few feet away she held the scroll out to him, finally speaking.

"Leader-sama sent me to speak with you. He said that you and I have a mission tomorrow."

The surprised and disbelieving look on his face was not unnoticed and Sakura felt that thick coil of anxiety wrap around her insides again. He was certainly not going to be pleased about this. He reached out with a black hand and snatched it away from her, unrolling it as Sakura watched as saffron eyes skimmed over the mission details.

"That won't be necessary, I have completed far more dangerous missions on my own."

"**We don't need a **_**partner.**_" He spat the word like something foul that was making his mouth taste bad and she almost cringed.

The cringe-worthy feeling was soon replaced though and she found herself getting quite irritated with this situation; maybe she could just ask Leader if there was any way she could get paired up with Kisame instead. It was obvious that the man in front of her had absolutely no interest in working with her and she didn't have the patience to sit here and try to coax him into a situation he didn't want. She blew out hard and placed her hands on her hips, previous anxiety replaced with her usual fiery manner.

"Well, you'll have to take that up with Leader-sama. He was the one who insisted we work together, it's not as if I specifically asked to be partnered with you."

Zetsu let out something that sounded like a huff but she couldn't figure out exactly which side it had come from, perhaps both.

"You act as if working with us would be problematic for you, Sakura-san."

"**Does it make you uncomfortable, kunoichi?"**

His eyes had locked onto hers and she found herself shivering. It wasn't that his glare was frightening or even intimidating, it was something altogether different. It only exacerbated her irritation that she couldn't accurately describe it.

And honestly she didn't care for the use of the honorific he tagged on, it just sounded the opposite of what it was supposed to be. She had almost preferred the sound of 'kunoichi' to 'Sakura-san', at least it accurately conveyed his feelings towards her which, while apparently not pleasant, were at the very least honest. There was nothing respectful in the way he said her name, it was almost syrupy sweet, so sweet she knew it wasn't sweet at all. Like a razorblade in a sugar bowl. How funny considering he had been awfully courteous when he had brought her here the first time, well at least half of him had been.

She furrowed her eyebrows at him, well more like at his sandals, and came up with the best retort she could think of at that moment.

"Well...look who's talking."

It was more of a mumble than a malicious lashing out but it was rude nonetheless; she was sure that Zetsu didn't take too kindly to rudeness.

"Hn."

He swept past her, his cloak catching hers for a split second and she briefly pondered going after him but decided against it. She just stood there as he whisked off, back straight and jaw set and didn't move until she felt his eyes on her back.

**"Come on we don't have all day."**

She turned towards him and blinked, "What? You're not going to give me a tour?"

His only response was a crooked twist of his mouth, which sort of looked like the white half was frowning and the black half was almost smirking. She sighed and walked forward until directly beside him.

"Stop pouting, you look like you've just eaten something rotten." She bit her lip, just now aware of what she had said. She knew she shouldn't have taken to being so bold to him but she just couldn't help it. Stupid, stupid girl. The small chuckle from the man was something rather unexpected indeed and she almost found herself gaping at him.

**"Not today, kunoichi."**

As he strode past the doors, Sakura couldn't help but smirk, even if the thought of him eating human flesh was disturbing. Okay it was downright gross but honestly she had seen things far worse than cannibalism. This of course was a different story for another day as she didn't want to relive the images of _that_ particular mission in her mind.

She followed him down the steps, neither speaking even though she had no idea where they were going or why he had wanted her to follow him. It was probably because he didn't feel comfortable with her alone in the elaborate greenhouse that seemed to be his sanctuary. He was probably taking her to see the Leader, to complain about his new buddy system. Still though, as the anxious feeling had effectively dissolved, she couldn't help but give herself a silent pat on the back for handling an explosive situation as well as she had. He had been obviously miffed and judging from the aura he radiated from in front of her, he still was. He wasn't as irritated as he had been when she had told him the news and he hadn't really hurt her. That in itself warranted a little self-toast.

'Here's to you, silly girl.'

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